Love's Melody
by ProdigalSnake
Summary: Alternate ending where Kousei's piano reaches Kaori and she lives! Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Your Lie in April, my second ending (music term :P). A journey of Kosei and Kaori's relationship along with some TsubakiXWatari!
1. Chapter 1 - Melody in Heaven

***Author's Note: Who just got off the feels train like I did? I liked the anime a lot and finished it in two days but I'm salty as hell because my ships didn't sail so I will force them to in this fanfic!**

**I don't own Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso/Your Lie in April.**

**Chapter 1 – Melody in Heaven**

"Her heartbeat stopped!" yelled the head surgeon. "Quickly grab the ICD!"

When she woke up she was no longer on the operating table, she was somewhere she didn't know. There was nothing but water and a clear sky. Then she smiled, knowing that she had died.

He walked toward the grand piano, seconds away from having to perform, from having to meet the expectations of his rivals. But the thing he was thinking about was still her, his mind seems to always wonder back to her. He bowed, sat down, and unbuttoned the bottom button of his blue suit. He had to play, he promised her and was going to make sure he tells her how he played when he goes back to visit.

'_She'll still be there when I go back, right? She won't leave me, she's strong and she'll beat any illness._'

He had the intentions to start but instead he planted his face in his hands. It hurt too much; it was all too much to bear. First losing his mother then losing the person he loved. It wasn't fair, why him?

'You're looking down again.' Her voice ringing in his head, the voice that always pushed him past his excuses and beyond his limit.

ACHOO!

It was the sneeze that woke him up, that reminded him of who he was playing for. He was playing for his friends, his teacher, his rivals, for everyone. But most important of all…he was playing for her.

He begins, Chopin Ballade No.1 in G Minor Op.23, he pours his entire being into the piano. Letting the sounds express thoughts he couldn't put into words. Memories of her started surfacing in his head and he could feel her presence within him, suddenly he wants his thoughts to reach her. He wants her to know how much he loves her, how much he means to her.

All of a sudden, she's standing there with her violin, playing with him but then she starts disappearing. He starts to push his limit, playing to have stay. It's like Watari said, he'll do anything for her.

'_Don't you dare leave!_'

She hears something.

"Is that the piano?" said Kaori as she got up and walked towards the direction in which the sound was coming from. She walked what felt an eternity but not getting any closer to the source.

'_When I get back we can argue again._'

"It got louder," said Kaori as she stopped. "Is this…Kosei's piano?"

'_I'll bribe you with caneles._'

"This is…Chopin," said Kaori putting her hands over her mouth, tears about to spill out. "It's really you, Kosei."

'_I don't mind being Friend A._'

"Kosei?" said Kaori looking up. '_I can hear his voice._'

'_Don't leave me behind._'

"I don't want to! I want to live! But it's already too late…," screamed Kaori hoping her voice could reach Kosei when she knew it couldn't.

'_No, watch me! I'll give the performance of my life, and then you will be so amazed that you won't be able to leave!_'

"Kosei," said Kaori now fully crying. '_How did this happen? I was at peace a second ago and you just had to come and ruin everything. It's all your fault, dumb Kosei!_'

'_I'M NOT LETTING YOU LEAVE ME!_'

'_I'll come beat you up after this operation is done and I recover._'

BEEP

"She's alive!"

"BRAVO!"

"ENCORE!"

"ARIMA KOUSEI!"

'_Did I reach her?_'

'_You did._' Hearing her voice, he turns his head and look through the audience looking for her. He heard her but maybe that's just his head playing tricks on him. Then without him realizing he's starting to cry as well.

As he stepped outside he felt his cell phone vibrate within his pocket and took it out to check.

Incoming call…Miyazono Kaori.

Picking it up immediately he heard nothing but crying and his heart dropped, fearing the worst had happened.

"Are you okay Kosei?" asked Tsubaki with a concerned tone, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It reached her…it really reached her," said Kosei.

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading and please take a moment of your time to leave a review since it really is a huge confidence boost. I hope it was clear what I was trying to describe.**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Confession Through Words

***Author's Note: Sorry for spelling Kousei wrong in the last chapter, I feel terrible for it trust me. Also THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, I literally got up from my chair and started dancing (yes that's how happy I am, so please continue reviewing). This chapter will include a bit of WatariXTsubaki, although the anime never hinted to anything that was going between those two I find that they suit each other pretty well that's why I decided to add them in.**

**Chapter 2 – The Confession Through Words**

He rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard she was back in her room. He definitively wasn't athletic but he ran without stopping from his house all the way to the hospital. But right at the entrance he saw Watari. Indecisiveness plagued him once again, he has almost forgotten that she liked Watari not him.

"Yo," said Watari in a cheery voice as he spotted Kousei. "Here to visit my Kaori-chan as well?"

"Ah, well," said Kousei looking down, "I can always come again. I don't want to third wheel you guys right now."

"Don't you really like her?" said Watari with a frown.

"Of course, but I'm not you Watari. She would want to see you."

* * *

She heard the door open and sat up excitedly. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Oh…," said Kaori, she would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed when she saw Watari. "Hey Watari!"

"Not the person you wanted to see huh?" said Watari with a smile.

"H-huh? No that's not-,"stuttered Kaori in embarrassment before being cut off by Watari.

"Don't worry," said Watari as he dragged Kousei into the room. "I brought him along as well."

"Kousei!" yelled Kaori as she saw him stumble forward, her tears starting to swell up again.

"Um, h-hi are you feeling better," stuttered Kousei surprised by how happy she seemed to be when she saw him.

"110%!" said Kaori happily.

"That's good," said Kousei walking into the room and feeling his cheeks start to redden as he got closer to her.

"Ah!" yelled Watari still at the door. "I forgot I have something to do right now. I'll see you guys later!" Waved goodbye and walked away. '_You idiot, I'm the one that's third wheeling._'

He always felt that Kaori didn't really like him, sure she always seemed interested in what he said and he's no doubt confident in his looks. But there hasn't been a single when she relied on him, it was always Kousei. He didn't really mind, he was happy for Kousei that he could find someone that suited him. Plus, he's been in love with another girl for the longest and now is the time to make his move.

As he got to the front door he came face to face with Tsubaki. "Yo!"

"Hey," said Tsubaki. "You're done visiting already?"

"Something just came up and I had to leave."

"Alright, I'll see you later," said Tsubaki as she was walking past him but was stopped by Watari grabbing her arm.

"I think you should leave those two alone for a little," said Watari locking eye contact with her. "Kousei likes her."

"But she likes you, so it doesn't really matter," said Tsubaki as she tried yank away her arm.

"No, she likes him as well," said Watari still not letting go.

"Let me go Watari!" said Tsubaki with a loud angry voice which made others turn their attention to the two of them. "What's your problem?"

"I know you like him but don't get in the way of his happiness!" yelled Watari which made Tsubaki stop struggling. She looked down and started crying and he let go of her.

"You wouldn't understand!" yelled Tsubaki running out of the hospital.

She ran and ran, away from the hospital, away from the reality that Kousei doesn't love her back. She ran to the park she used to always play in when she was little and went inside a tiny tube that's way too small for her and cried in there. It didn't take a long time for Watari to catch up and he crouched down outside the hole.

"Hey shouldn't us two broken hearted people comfort each other?" said Watari jokingly.

"Shut up, you'll just hop to another girl and forget in no time."

"No trust me," said Watari seriously looking into Tsubaki's eyes. "I understand better than anyone what it feels like to love someone when they love someone else."

* * *

Kousei took a seat beside Kaori's bed waiting for the usually energetic girl to start the conversation but she didn't say anything. She just simply looked at him, which caused him to super self conscious.

'_Do I have something on my face? Oh no! Do I smell bad? I know I forgot to take a bath yesterday because I was too tired. What if she thinks I'm a slob now?_' These thoughts caused Kousei to panic; it caused him to be more nervous than he was when he was performing. This in turn caused him to become depressed, he finally was alone with the girl he loved and this happens.

"Hey," said Kaori with a smile, "you're looking down again."

"Oh, sorry!" apologized Kousei and immediately sitting up rigidly straight which made Kaori laugh.

"So…um, are you all better now or is this only…," said Kousei in a quiet tone, he couldn't bear to think that the surgery only prolonged her life by only a year or so. It was way too short.

"My doctor said I'm all better now," said Kaori in a cheerful voice. The news was almost too good to be true, which made Kousei think that he misheard her.

"What?"

"What kind of response is that!?"

"No…it's just I thought there wasn't a cure yet."

"Well apparently there was a social fad about dumping ice water on your head or something like that and there was a large sum of donation to the organization that was researching the cure to my disease. I'm pretty lucky that they managed to find a medicine that can help stop the death of motor neurons and with some other medicine I can slowly regain my muscle movements then I'll be fully recovered!"

"You're…you're not lying right?" said Kousei barely able to get the words out. He was stuck between two emotions right now, fear and happiness. Fear that this sounds so ridiculous that it's not actually real and happy that if it is then it wouldn't be a stretch to say this is a miracle.

"C'mon have a little faith in me," said Kaori with a pout. "You don't trust me?"

"I…I trust you," said Kousei on the edge of crying tears of joy. "I'm…just so happy."

"Aw don't go crying on me."

"I-I'm not crying!" said Kousei wiping away his tears and looking up and seeing that Kaori is about to cry as well. "Will you make it back in time for graduation?"

"You bet! Wait…oh crap I might not even graduate!"

"What?! Why not?"

"I thought I was going to die so…I didn't really pay much attention in school," said Kaori laughing a little and looking away embarrassed.

"Well…if you can make it in time for the Royal Conservatory Music Competition in February and win then you'll probably be accepted in the high school I'm applying to. They mainly look at your achievements and if you have a good record then they'll let you in so if you win the competition you'll have it in time to put it on your application not to mention that competition is pretty famous."

"Thank God, you're a life saver Kousei."

"N-no problem," said Kousei, in all honesty he just wanted her to go to the same high school as him. There were a whole bunch of solutions that could solve her problem but he decided that he's going to be selfish this one time.

There was a brief moment of silence before he noticed a letter sealed with a black cat sticker on the food holder in front of Kaori.

"What's that," said Kousei as he got up and reached for it.

"Wait no! Don't read that!" yelled Kaori but she still didn't full control of her body yet therefore couldn't act in time to prevent Kousei from taking the letter.

He looked at her again and noticed that her face was completely red and realized this was probably a love letter…to Watari. Now he didn't really care what she wrote, in fact it was better if he never saw what was inside.

"Y-you're not allowed to read that," said Kaori in a nervous tone. "I'll kill you if you do."

"Is this a love letter?" asked Kousei, the words came out before he could stop them. For some reason the fact that she wrote a love letter to Watari for after her death is both hurting him and making him angry.

'_What the hell, how did he know?!_' thought Kaori, surprised and even more embarrassed that he was so straight forward about it.

'_No answer huh? I guess there are no doubts now,_' thought Kousei.

"You don't want to read it?" asked Kaori now confused when Kousei was about to put it back on the food holder.

"Why would I want to read your love letter to Watari?" asked Kousei even more confused.

"What are you talking about that letter is for y-," said Kaori but then quickly shutting her mouth.

"It's for me?!" said Kousei in a surprised tone, he quickly took the letter back and flipped it over. _To Mr. Arima Kousei_.

"It's for you but you're not allowed to read it now that I'm still here!"

"Too bad," said Kousei teasingly, starting to open the envelope and taking full advantage of the fact that Kaori couldn't beat him up right now. To be even more of a tease he decided to read the letter out loud.

"Dear Mr. Arima Kousei!" said Kousei loudly which made Kaori's face turn an even darker shade of red.

"You are terrible, indecisive…a blockhead…a complete idiot." '_What._' It was definitively not what he was expecting.

'_No, no, no, if you keep reading you'll find out._'

He decided to read the rest in his head in case there are more insults. He'd rather not make fun of himself out loud, after all this may be a trap all along and she was baiting him to read it.

"Oh you used to play the piano huh?"

"Wait Kousei I'll tell you what's in the letter so stop read-"

"WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE WATARI?!"

"Okay, no I do-"

"So you do like Watari?"

"No, I…"

"Do you or do you not?!" asked Kousei cutting Kaori off again.

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN YOU IDIOT!" yelled Kaori which caused a nurse to come in.

"What's going on in here!" yelled a nurse in an angry tone.

"N-nothing," said both Kousei and Kaori.

After the nurse left, Kaori took a deep breath and said, "I don't like Watari Ryouta."

"Why would you lie about that?"

"To bring you to me."

"Why would you…"

"Because...," said Kaori as she looked into his eyes, "I love you."

"You…I…," stuttered Kousei, his head was spinning and he couldn't even form a proper sentence. He was still desperately trying to figure whether what she just said actually happened or was just his imagination.

"You don't have to say anything," said Kaori with a teasing smile. "I already know the answer."

"Huh?" said a confused Arima. '_So was it real? I think it was real…_'

"Are you not embarrassed? Playing out a confession in front of all those people," said Kaori still teasing.

"Wait you heard it?"

"Yup," said Kaori and then went on to do a Yoda impression, "the power of music is strong with this one." This made both of them burst into laughter.

"Do you think I'm weird?"

"No," said Kousei as he got up and sat on the bed, "I'm happy it reached you."

'_You filled my monotone world with colors. You gave my ability to play the piano back. You showed me a clear future,_' thought Kousei as he looked into her eyes which made her pulse race and her face red. It was her turn now to start loosing her mind, unable to tease him about staring at her in a perverted way, unable to say anything.

'_You would probably say something like, '_I didn't do anything, you made everything happen yourself_', but that would be the worst lie of them all because there's no way I could have done this alone…'_

"I love you too."

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading and please review XD. I know this chapter was a lot dialogue but expect more cute moments in the next chapter when Kaori regains some of her abilities to move. Also tell me what you guys think of the Watari and Tsubaki pair and if I should do more!**

**Cavecaleb1: Thank you for reviewing! Thank you for the encouragement!**

**Mermaid Monster: Same to you man! Thank you for taking time out of your day to leave a comment.**

**MetaXoul: Hell yeah! That's the reason I started writing this, so sad and salty about the ending.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Taking Care of Her

*******Author's Note: Thank you for all the feedback from the last chapter! Please continue to comment on what you think of this story and help me improve it! Enjoy! XD**

**Chapter 3 – Taking Care of Her**

"Excuse me Arima-kun, visitors' hours are up," said a nurse as she walked in.

"Alright," said Arima and then turned back to face Kaori. He felt like he should do something, like a kiss maybe? After all they just confessed their love to one another, so shouldn't he like give her a goodbye kiss? All this was all so new to him; he's never really liked a girl beside Kaori, and much less has experience on what to do in this scenario. So he just went with the safer option and took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. She couldn't feel much in her hands yet but she could imagine the warmth and blushed at the gesture.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Kousei as he got up.

"Now if you don't come visit me often I'm going to get really mad," said Kaori, trying to have an intimidating look.

"I'll make sure to come daily," said Kousei turning around at the door and giving her one last smile.

"Oh and bring me my caneles!" yelled Kaori as Kousei walked out of sight.

* * *

She cried the whole time; he actually couldn't understand where the tears were coming from by the end. She cried and talked about how stupid Kousei was, and about how much she liked him. He was glad he was there with her, he wasn't really being useful, and he was kind of just sitting there beside her in this little cramped space that was already small enough for her alone. But it was still comforting to her; it was really the best support she could have at that time; someone who could just sit there silently and listen to her vent out her sadness and anger.

"Thanks for sitting through that," said Tsubaki after she calmed herself down, "you didn't have to."

"C'mon we've been friends for ages, plus I needed to sulk a bit as well. We can be sulking buddies from now on," said Watari and laughed, which made Tsubaki laugh as well. Sulking buddies, it was so sad and depressing that it turned funny.

"Ey, there we go, you finally cheered up!" said Watari with his usual smile back. "Now let's please get out of this pipe thing before I start developing back problems."

"Yeah let's do that," said Tsubaki suddenly realizing how uncomfortable she was. It was quite the awful experience getting out of there, which made both of them think how they ever got in, in the first place.

"Hurry up!" yelled Tsubaki as she waited for Watari to get out first since it only had one hole to exit from.

"I'm try- OW! My leg! My leg!" yelped Watari which made Tsubaki burst out in laughter. They probably looked absolutely ridiculous from the outside. It was a tangle of limbs; it hurt and they felt like two circus freaks performing a trick.

"Tsubaki stop being so fat, you're pushing against m- OW!"

"Huh what did you say?" said Tsubaki with an evil smile while pushing against Watari even harder.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You're not fat!"

After finally tumbling out, the two of them laid on the snow, both tired and out of breath. Looking to the side they both spotted a black cat which curiously looked at the two of them.

"That cat probably thinks we're both dumbasses," said Watari.

"We are," said Tsubaki while laughing. The two of them then fell silent, both staring up at the starry night sky. The only sound was their breathing and the only movement was the rise and fall of their chests.

"Let's get up, we're going to catch a cold like this," said Watari breaking the silence.

"Nah, I want to stay like this for a bit longer," said Tsubaki still looking at the sky.

"You already have a cold but I have to worry about catching one right now," said Watari jokingly but nonetheless stayed where he was.

"Hey Watari," said Tsubaki with a sadness in her voice. "Say, why doesn't Kousei like me…am I not pretty enough?"

'_Nonsense._'

"I think you're -"

ACHOO!

"Sowey, continew," said Tsubaki sniffling.

"I…don't think that's the why." Tsubaki then started coughing which was Watari's cue to get her home.

"Alright c'mon it's time to go home, your sickness is starting to get worse," said Watari as he got up.

"What? No I want to stay here," said Tsubaki as she struggled against Watari who was trying to pick her up. "I want to sulk for a longer time!"

"You'll stay with me right?" said Tsubaki suddenly looking into Watari's eyes. Brown eyes met each other, both of them with flushed cheeks.

"I…," stuttered Watari; the usual playboy gone, with his mind completely blanking on things to say. That's when she started to faint, and was caught by Watari.

"Hey what's wrong?!" In a state of shock and worry he quickly put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

"You're burning up you dumb gorilla girl!" said Watari as he managed to get Tsubaki on his back and started sprinting toward his house since it was the closest.

"Kou…sei…"

"You call his name even now huh?" said Watari with a sad smile. "At least say the name of the person that's saving your ass right now."

* * *

When Kousei opened the door she was still sleeping, so he quietly walked in and set down the bag of caneles on the food holder and sat down.

'_She's so peaceful and quiet, unlike the awaked version,_' thought Kousei as he laughed to himself. Deciding not to wake her up, he took out some music sheets and began analyzing them.

"Huh?" said Kaori tiredly after waking up, "Kousei when did you get here?"

"Oh…I uh just got here actually," said Kousei deciding that saying he has been here for almost half an hour will make Kaori think that he was creepily staring at her while she was sleeping. Which he kind of did, minus the creepy part. He couldn't help it, she was just too adorable.

"Help me sit up, I still can't move very well and I feel weird talking to you like this."

"Okay."

After walking closer to the bed he realized that this was a much harder task than it sounds. The first thing he tried was to get a hand behind her back and a hand under her legs to move her up the bed and allow her to lean against the back of the bed.

"W-w-watch where you're placing your hand!" yelled Kaori, her face turning completely red.

"I-I'm so sorry! I meant to grab your legs I swear!" said Kousei, quickly pulling his hand out of the blankets. His thoughts all jumbled from what his hand just touched and his face the color of a ripe tomato.

This led to his next idea which was even worst than the first one. He attempted to push her up by putting his hands under her arms, but after what just happened Kaori was on high alert and looked at Kousei with a questioning look.

"W-what are you trying to do?!" said Kaori hugging her chest which made it impossible for Kousei to execute his plan.

"I-it's not what you think! So please cooperate."

"What am I cooperating to?!"

"Just put your arms out I'm trying to get you to sit up!" said Kousei as he struggled to push her up.

"Kousei I know we confessed to each other and all that…but don't you think you're moving too fast…I mean I'm only 14 years old I don't think I'm ready for this…"

"Just what are you thinking about right now?!" Right then Kaori's arm muscle suddenly gave out and Kousei's hand went up and landed on her chest.

"Kousei you liar, pervert, camera voyeur! Taking advantage of a girl that can't move; I didn't know you were like that! Now I can no longer be a bride!"

"Miyazono-san I've brought your break-," said a nurse walking in with a plate of food and witnessing the scene.

"I-it's really not what it looks like!"

It took a lot of explaining to convince the nurse that he wasn't some kind of rapist but actually just trying to help her sit up.

"You foolish teenagers, you know that there are buttons right here to adjust the bed right?" said the nurse as she pressed a few buttons and the moved to bring Kaori into a sitting position. "Even if you two are dating this kind of behavior is unacceptable in the hospital."

"We're not-" said both of them at the same time but then stopped and looked at each other. Both of them still not used to the fact that they are dating.

"You guys don't have to be shy about it," said the nurse with a smile, "it's quite obvious."

'_It is?_' thought both of them as they blushed at the comment.

"So how about you make it up to her by feeding her breakfast," said the nurse to Kousei as she set down the plate of food on the food holder.

"Sorry about that," said Kousei after the nurse left. He took the plate of food and sat on the bed.

"You're quite possibly the worst caretaker in the world," said Kaori teasingly.

"That's pretty harsh," said Kousei with a small smile. "Still want me to feed you or do you want the nurse back?"

"I want you." She looked at him in the eyes and he nodded shyly.

He scooped up a spoonful of scrambled eggs and blew on it softly to cool it down. "Say 'ah~'," said Kousei with a blush as he held the spoon towards her.

"Ah~" Nom. Nom. Nom.

"Is it good?"

"Uh huh," said Kaori, nodding while chewing. The room was filled with silence, with no noise except the soft chewing of Kaori and the soft blows of Kousei. Nothing special was happening but at the same time these were the moments that neither of will forget. How could such talented musicians revel in such silence?

"You got something here," said Kousei pointing to the spot on his own mouth.

"Huh?"

"Here I'll get it." He took a napkin and leaned in closer wiping the food off of the corner of her mouth.

Before he realized their faces were only inches apart. Dark ocean blue met sky azure, both with rosy cheeks, as if under a spell they inch closer and closer. Eyes closing, fingers tangling together, the sound of their light breathing and a smell of scrambled egg.

"Good morning!" said Kaori's dad as he opened the door with Kaori's mom. Time froze for a second, all the previous sensations gone, replaced by the killer aura of Kaori's dad. "ARIMA-KUN!"

The door then closed again and in the hallway the voice of Kaori's dad could be heard. "Honey let me go I must go stop them!"

"We should leave them alone," said Kaori's mom with a small laugh. "Let them have their precious experiences."

"Experiences?!" said Kaori's dad horrified. "Nooooo, my innocent daughter!"

"Well that was a whole new level of embarrassment, twice in one day, bad things just keeps on happening when I'm around you huh?" said Kaori, more than disappointed that their moment was ruined. Kousei just nodded, still blushing from the moment earlier and now worried about the impression he left with her dad.

"You want to pick up where we left off?"

"I…uh…um…" stammered Kousei which made Kaori laugh, then suddenly she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"You're not such a bad caretaker after all," said Kaori with a smile. "I am satisfied with my care for today."

'_No need to rush, we still have plenty of time. Our dream is only beginning now._'

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please take a moment of your time to drop a comment :D! I can't guarantee that I will update as frequently as I am now since March Break is ending but I will try my best to put out one chapter every week (will probably fail miserably don't hate me please)!**

**Mermaid Monster: Thank you for reviewing once again! Also thank you for your support on my other pair, I'll try my best to sell it to you through the next few chapters XD.**

**TheFlowerWeSawThatDay: Thank for taking the time to leave a review! I really do appreciate the feedback since I'm not a very experienced writer yet. If you could point out the parts that Kousei and Kaori were out of character it'd be a huge help to me! Finally, thank you for the support and I will try my best to sharpen my writing for the next chapter!**

**creepysaru: YES! Someone who is with me on the Watari and Tsubaki ship! Thank you for dropping a comment again! Also this is the first time I've been called someone's hope in the desert (so much pressure .).**

** : No problem! I started writing this fanfic to cheer myself and others up, so I'm happy that you like this alternate ending.**

**1996garfield: Thank you for your support! These 'pat on the back' comment give me a huge confidence boost and motivates me to keep writing so thank you for taking time out of your day to leave one.**

**wrestling-with-jimmy: LOL I hope you were able to piece yourself back together. Thank you for the support!**

**Aiyoukhyra: I'm happy that you found what you were looking for in my writing. Thank you for the support!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Story

***Author's Note: Thank you once again for showing so much support with the reviews guys! There is a lot more Watari and Tsubaki this chapter so I hope you guys will give this couple a shot as well even if it's not your favorite.**

**Chapter 4 – Story**

"Where am I?"

Tsubaki opened her eyes and found herself in another person's bed, looking around he recognized that it was Watari's room. She has only been here once or twice but she could tell since there was a giant poster of Leonel Messi on the ceiling right above the bed.

'_Why am I on his bed…what the hell is this awful taste in my mouth, WHY AM I WEARING HIS SHIRT AND WHERE ARE MY PANTS?!_'

"Oh you're awake," said Watari as he walked in. "Are you feeling okay?"

"W-why wouldn't I be feeling okay?"

"You don't remember anything that happened last night?"

"L-l-last night, what happened last night?" Tsubaki's face now all red from her imagination going wild. This situation feels strangely familiar, boy's shirt and wet hair.

"You fainted and I carried you to my house since it was the closest." Watari confused by why she was so flustered then realizing what she was thinking based on what she was wearing. "I-it's not what you think."

"Then where are my clothes!?" asked Tsubaki angrily before assaulting Watari with punches and kicks.

"GAH I SWEAR I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" yelled Watari as he ran out of the room.

"THAT'S WHAT A GUILTY PERSON WOULD SAY!" yelled Tsubaki as she ran after him.

"AHH!" screamed Watari as a chair flew past his head at mach speed. "NEE-SAN HELP!"

* * *

Last night…

"Oh Watari you're finally- who's that on your back?" asked Watari's sister as he bursted through the doors.

"Nee-san help her out, she's got a really high fever and just passed out!"

His house was the closest but the other reason Watari bought her back to his house was because his sister was in her last year of medical school and just happened to be home on break.

"Get her on your bed; I'll go grab some towels and ice." After laying down Tsubaki on his bed, his sister came in with a bowl of water, towels, ice, medicine and a thermometer.

"Holy shit 103 F!"

"Can you help her?" asked Watari, his voice filled with worry.

"All we can do is to help her cool her fever down with some ice and medicine." She looked at him and saw him all tense, his hands clutched together. She has seen him nervous before big games but never as tense as this.

"Hey, she's going to be fine, 103 F is bad but it's not life threatening if we treat it fast," said his sister giving him a hard slap on the back.

"Alright," said Watari slightly relieved and immediately dumping the ice in the water and soaking a towel.

Her cheeks were red and her breathing was heavy, her face in a look of discomfort. "I told you we had to go," said Watari kneeling by the bed and burying his head on the cover.

"Watari…" His head shot up, she seemed half conscious and her eyes were barely opened. "Where…"

"Shh just drink this and rest for now." He took the medicine from his sister and supported Tsubaki so that she can sit up a bit.

"What…the hell…" said Tsubaki as she coughed after the first sip.

"This is…that super awesome energy drink I was telling you about, you'll feel so good after you."

"Are…you lying?"

"I would never lie to you," said Watari as he placed a hand over his heart. After Tsubaki forced the medicine down she went back to sleep. Watari and his sister closed the light and went downstairs.

"Did you eat dinner yet? If not go I got leftovers for you on the table."

"Alright, let me just call her parents before they start worrying." After the phone call he sat down at the dinner table and got ready before his sister pulled the takeout away from him.

"To eat this you have to tell me who that girl is," said his sister teasingly.

"S-she's just a friend; now give me my food I'm starving," said Watari his face turning red.

"Girlfriend?" asked his sister analyzing his face carefully. "Crush? Crush, that's it!"

"Okay, okay now please shut up," said Watari as he began stuffing his face while his sister smiled victoriously.

"You know, you shouldn't make promises like that to a girl," said his sister as she sat down in chair across from him. "We are very sensitive creatures."

"Sensitive? Oh, then you must not be a girl."

"Hey, hey I'm trying to help you out here."

"I think I can get girls on my own."

"So, does that girl like another guy?" He coughed as food went down the wrong tube, it was one thing for her to be book smart but being able to see through people is a bit too much. "Want my help?"

"Alright fine, what do you have to suggest?" In all honesty he didn't think his sister really had any good ideas that he hasn't though of but he has failed a lot these past years so he's up for some new ideas.

"Okay here's what you do, you want to go up to her and say something like 'You know why you should date me? …Because I'm stronger than you', that'll work like a charm."

"Yeah good idea, if I want to get arrested." Watari finished the food and got up leaving his sister that was trying not to laugh. The two decided to go check on Tsubaki again to make sure she was okay.

"Her fever has cooled down a bit but she'll need a constant change of towel, and clothe as well. We can't have her stay in those wet clothe she has on right now and while we're at it we should change the wet sheets as well." Watari picked up Tsubaki and his sister took out the wet sheets and replaced it with new ones.

"Alright I'll-"

"I'll wash the sheets and you can change her clothe." Before what she said even registered in Watari's mind she went out and locked the door.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"I'm not letting you out until you change her clothe," said his sister, her voice fading signaling that she's walking away. His sister is probably the only person in the world that could make him this angry and the only sister in the world that would make her brother change another girl's clothe whom she barely knows.

"Just what am I going to do?" said Watari putting his face in his hand as he turned to the sleeping Tsubaki. This was going to be a dangerous task, if she were to wake up while he was undressing her there will be hell to pay. Not to mention he's locked in this room so there will be no escape… He opened his closet and looked for something for her to wear and decided on a simple sport t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

'_Maybe I can trick my sister in opening the door,_' thought Watari, he couldn't do this; this was wrong in so many different levels.

"Nee-san open the door, I did it."

"Ohhhh, alright I'll open the door." Watari smiled at how he was able to trick his sister and prepared to run out as soon as the door opens. "As soon as you send me a picture."

"W-what the hell she'll kill me if she finds out!"

"Don't worry I'll delete it."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"Please don't make me do this," said Watari after a moment of silence.

"You didn't really change her clothes, did you? You got to think harder if you want to trick me."

After sitting there for another half an hour, he realized that either he changes her clothes or wager that she'll wake up before he starves to death. He was favoring the wager until thoughts started to surface in his head which made him shake his head furiously.

'_No, no, no don't think about that stuff_.'

"Hey stop taking your sweet time or else her cold is going to get worse with those wet clothes!"

"What? You never told me that…AHH SCREW IT!" There were way too many things on his mind. A huge battlefield waging between what to do so he decided to just stop thinking and start doing.

"Don't kill me for this," said Watari before he taking off her jacket. The sleeping medicine that was in her drink before was really effective since she didn't seem to be bothered whatsoever. Her shirt came next, and after several attempts in trying to take it off with his eyes closed he decided to just do it with his eyes open and get it over with quickly.

"I swear this is done with good intentions," said Watari to the sleeping Tsubaki as he started to pull her shirt up. Face flushed and his heart beating a hundred beats per second he slowly revealed her stomach, and finally as he swallowed hard he took off her shirt. Her skin was looked fairly smooth and she had slightly defined abs, probably from all the baseball training she does. It took his breath away, he has dated good looking girls before but she's just so much more.

'_Sport bra huh? Pretty se- wait what the hell am I thinking about right now!_' After getting the dirty thoughts out of his head he slipped his t-shirt over her head and pulled it down. It was way too big for her and she looked kind of silly but at the same time she looked cute in Watari's eyes.

"Next time you're on my bed it's going to be willingly," whispered Watari as he patted her head with a blush.

* * *

"Oh well if it isn't Arima-kun!" said Kaori's mom cheerfully as he walked into the pastry shop. "Here to get some caneles for Kaori?"

"Yes," said Kousei shyly, it felt weird talking to her parents now that they were dating. He had a slight feeling of nervousness and worry that they didn't find him good enough for their daughter.

"Well if it isn't Arima-kun," said Kaori's dad with a slightly more aggressive tone as he walked in.

"H-hi," said Kousei nervously, the last time he saw Kaori's dad he wanted to kill him for trying to kiss his daughter.

"The caneles aren't done yet so you might have to wait a little," said Kaori's mom then an idea popped in her head. "Ah Arima-kun why don't you try preparing the caneles for Kaori, I'm sure she'd appreciate the gesture!"

"E-eh but I've never baked any sweets in my whole life…"

"There's a first time for everything, my husband will show you how."

It was quite hard for someone that has never even made cookies before to suddenly cook such a complicated French desert but nevertheless Kousei gave it a go. His few attempts in pouring the batter into the battered and sugared caneles moulds were disastrous, he always poured too much in or too little. Finally after baking one batch and tasting it he realized that he sprinkled salt instead of sugar, the taste of the bittersweet shell and salty filling was not a good combination.

"I didn't know you could make them this bad…" said Kaori's dad after tasting one. He was now worried that his daughter might get a stomach ache after eating one of these. He looked over at Kousei and saw that he was looked pretty defeated as well. '_Well can't blame him, it's his first time baking_.'

"Would you like me to-"

"Please, one more batch, I think I got it now," said Kousei with determination, he's played so many difficult piano pieces before that seemed impossible, and baking decent caneles can't possibly be as hard. He didn't want Kaori to eat something bad but he also wanted to make her something that would make her happy. She's done a lot for him; the least he could do is bake her favorite treat for her.

"That's the spirit!" said Kaori's dad with a smile and gave Kousei a hard pat on the back which made him stumble forward.

* * *

"Geez what took you so long," said Kaori as Kousei walked in.

"Sorry I was making caneles for you."

"Making?" said Kaori her face lighting up.

"Yeah, I made this myself," said Kousei with a sense of pride.

"Let me try one," said Kaori as she reached into the box and grabbed one. The shape looked a bit big but other than that it looked normal. She took a bit out of it, and after a few seconds of chewing she started laughing.

"There is way too much filling in her; also how just how much sugar did you dump in here?"

"I-I'm sorry," said Kousei embarrassingly. "They're not good are they?"

"Nope," said Kaori without missing a beat which made Kousei a little depressed. He tried really hard and compared to his first batch he thought this was actually pretty good.

"You don't have to eat them, if you don't like them," said Kousei as Kaori finished her third one.

"Who said I didn't like them?" said Kaori with a smile which cheered Kousei up. "But you're going to have to help me finish these."

"Alright," said Kousei as he grabbed one and sat down. "These really aren't that bad."

"Okay, whatever you say." The two of them laughed while eating the caneles that were too sweet. The taste wasn't what mattered; it was the moment, the effort put into those caneles that made all the difference.

"Ah I'm so full, thanks for making them for me," said Kaori.

"I'm happy you liked them," said Kousei with a smile.

"Come sit beside me," said Kaori with a blush on her face as she patted the spot on the bed beside her.

"E-eh, are you sure?" asked Kousei which was answered by a nod, his face now equally as red. He took off his shoes and got on the bed and sat beside her. She then leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Kousei, tell me a story."

"A story? Uhh okay…" Kousei sat there and thought about what story to tell, after a while he started.

"There was once a very beautiful girl with flowing blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes who was an amazing violinist."

"Sounds like someone I know," said Kaori with a smile.

"She loved to play the sheet music her way; she didn't even let the composer boss her around. Her music impressed many people and even pigeons would come flocking around her when she played. One day she met a boy who was a pianist, but something special about the boy was that he couldn't hear the notes he played. She selfishly asked the boy to be her accompanist and even after the boy refused she stubbornly pressed on. She was so annoying." This earned him a playful punch on the side which made Kousei smile.

"The girl helped the boy to love playing the piano again, and the boy fell in love with the girl." Kaori blushed lightly.

"One day she got lost in a forest, all alone, she cried out but nobody could hear her except for the pigeons. The pigeons quickly flew to the boy and told him that the girl was lost. The boy then pushed his heavy piano outside at the edge of the forest and started playing to help guide the girl out of the forest. The boy played for hours and hours, as the sun started setting the people of the town passed by him and told him that the girl was gone but he kept on playing. Finally the girl found her way out of the forest and saw the boy who was still playing. The girl went and sat down beside the boy and leaned her head against his shoulder." At that point Kousei stopped which made Kaori raise her head up.

"What happens next?"

"What do you think happens next?"

"I think…" said Kaori looking into Kousei's eyes, "the girl puts a hand on the boy's face and turns him towards her." As she speaks she puts a hand on Kousei's face and inched a bit closer. The dark ocean blue eyes stared into the sky azure ones, both of them leaning closer and closer. Finally their warm lips locking together perfectly, eyes closed, sharing one breath. Time stops and suddenly it feels like they are sitting on piano stool with a black piano in front of them, at the edge of a forest, under a dark moonlit sky. They separate in need of air and time starts back up again and they are back on the hospital bed.

"I liked that story."

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading; I hope my story telling ability wasn't awful! Please continue to comment what you think of the story, feel free to talk about anything whether it be constructive criticism, 'pat on the back' comment or suggestions for what I should do in future chapters I will gladly accept all of them.**

**Cavecaleb1: Thank you for the support! I thought the feeding scene was so cliché but I'm happy people liked it. Also every time I see a review I smile like a fool as well :P**

**Mermaid Monster: Thank you for commenting once again! I'm happy someone noticed the Big Hero 6 reference XD. Thank you for showing so much support it truly means a lot to me :')**

**asdfghjkl: LOL I hope you were able to piece yourself back together. Thank you for the support and I'm happy that I was able to make you feel better with my story!**

**HaveYouSeenThisOtaku: Thank you for the support! I'm happy to find that there are more people that ship Watari and Tsubaki as well.**

**whatgoesupgoesdown: Thank you for the honest review! I'm still a novice writer so these reviews are really helpful for me to improve my writing.**

**Misa Sasekage,****Aiyoukhyra, XxItWasntMexX, ****Herolegend290****: Thank you for the support guys!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Snow Like Cherry Blossoms

*******Author's Note: Thank you once again for all the people that showed their support, it really motivates me to see people liking my story! Please continue to show your support! Also thank you to those who critiqued my work, if you see something that's wrong please point it out so that I can improve my writing and fix those mistakes.**

**Chapter 5 – Snow Like Cherry Blossoms**

"Nee-san! Tell her that what I did was out of good will!" said Watari as he ran behind his sister to hide from the angry Tsubaki.

"Oh Tsubaki-chan you finally woke up," said Watari's sister with an evil grin. "My little brother is quite awful isn't he? After he took you to his room…he locked the door and did many indecent things!"

"Indecent things?!" said both Watari and Tsubaki at the same time, their faces red from embarrassment.

"What are you -"

"He even took a picture of you," said Watari's sister interrupting her brother. She flipped open his phone and showed that his wallpaper was the picture of Tsubaki sleeping in her new clothes.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE MY PHONE?!"

"Wa…ta…ri…" said Tsubaki as she grabbed onto his shoulder and clutched it with an iron grip. Killer aura rising from her body, her eyes burning, to sum it all up she looked like a demon straight out of hell.

"AHHH! NEE-SAN YOU B-" screamed Watari before he got the worst beating of his life.

* * *

"Good morning Tsubaki, Watari," said Kousei as the two of them walked into the classroom.

"Kousei you won't believe what Watari did to me!"

"Like I said before I didn't do anything, my sister was just messing with me!" The volume of their voices caused many of their peers to turn their attention to them.

"Eh? Did something happen?"

"You violated me!" said Tsubaki pointing her finger at Watari accusingly. The statement started an uproar of whispers among their classmates.

"Don't say it in a way that could be so easily misunderstood, not to mention you're too loud."

"The world must know of your sins!"

"Listen you stupid gorilla woman!"

"I don't want to listen to a sexual harasser talk!"

The two got right up in each other's faces and Kousei was caught right in the middle, who was still seated at his desk. He has been put in this situation before, in the end both of them are going to turn to him and ask who is right. He began to panic and right before Watari and Tsubaki turned to him the teacher walked in.

"Alright that's enough! Sawabe and Watari, both of you go to the office! The rest of you go back to your seats!" The sea of whispers died down as the two of them exited the room and everyone took their seats.

After getting scolded by the principal for the whole period the two of them walked back to their classroom for lunch.

"See what you did? I even had to get yelled at by the principal again."

"Who do you think made a big scene which led to us being sent to the office? If anything I should be the one complaining."

"I see that the two of you are back," said the teacher as he walked out of the class. "Get your homework from one of your friends."

After walking a few more steps the teacher turned around. "Oh before I forget."

"People from the athletic department from different high schools are coming tonight to the school to meet some of the member of the sport teams. You two have been invited." The teacher handed them the invitation card and left.

"I heard about this from my ex- I mean from my old baseball captain. It's a good way to build connections and to make sure you get accepted into the school you want to go. Plus there's good food."

Watari listened as he read over the invitation card. "It says here we have a plus-one."

"Oh perfect then we can bring Kousei along as well." She walked into the classroom but Watari stayed outside. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you go invite him, and I'll go find a girl I can bring." Watari faked a smile and walked away. '_There goes my night alone with her._'

"That was quite a long lecture you got," said Kousei as Tsubaki walked up.

"It sucks but that doesn't matter right now!" said Tsubaki, shoving the invitation into his face. "Wanna come with me to this?"

After looking over the invitation Kousei gave it back to her. "I'm sorry I can't make it tonight, I promised Kaori that I would go visit her tonight."

"It's okay," said Tsubaki quietly, she was sad and disappointed that she couldn't spend the night with Kousei.

"Are you okay? You seem really down," said Kousei reaching out to try and comfort her.

"Stupid Kousei!" She punched him in the chest and ran out. Tears swelled up in her eyes, this time it wasn't even music that was taking him, it was another girl. A girl that was much more compatible with him than her.

'_AHHH Kousei why do you like her and not me!_' She felt like cuddling up in a corner and having a good cry then suddenly stopped. '_What the hell, when did I get so emotional? Screw that I'm not going to let him control my mood! I'll go play some softball, which sounds much better than crying in a corner._'

Watari walked around the hallway, he wasn't really looking for a girl to bring with him, and in fact he didn't even want to bring another girl with him.

'_Man why did she have to go invite Kousei? He doesn't even plan to go into an athletic high school,_' thought Watari as he rubbed his head and sighed. '_Why did I have to fall in love with her?_'

"Watari!" He turned his head and looked out the window after hearing his name. He saw one of his teammate playing soccer with some of his other friends. "Wanna join us?!"

"Sure why not," said Watari as he jumped out the window. '_Better than sitting in a corner and crying about it!_'

After around half an hour of soccer he began to feel better and was having fun, the game was tied and the sun was setting.

"Alright guys, last goal wins!"

The opponents made a good effort to score by sending all their defenders up the field but Watari's team was saved by their goalie and made a break for it. Watari dribbled the ball up, passed the two defenders that managed to get back and came face to face with the goalie.

"GOAL!" His teammates ran up behind him and lifted him up as Watari raised his index finger in triumphantly. The high of adrenaline from playing made him feel a lot better about the night.

CLANG!

He turned his head towards the softball field and saw that Tsubaki was still there. He decided that he'll walk home with her since Kousei probably already left. He waved goodbye to his friends and started walking towards the softball field.

'_Looks like you got rejected,_' thought Watari a smile forming on his face as he looked at Tsubaki swing the bat in anger. He should have been feeling bad for her, but he just couldn't help feeling happy.

"Hey did you hear? Apparently Tsubaki rejected Watari today in front of the whole class!" Watari heard that and turned his head to the voice; there were two guys that were watching Tsubaki. "Also I heard that they were sleeping together!"

"For real?! She's pretty hot don't you think?" said the other guy.

"Do you think she'll sleep with me if I ask nicely?"

"I heard she's pretty stupid so I bet she's a slut too."

BAM! The soccer ball hit the male right in the back of his head, which caused him to fall face first on the ground.

"What the-" said the other student as he turned around and got hit right in the face by another soccer ball.

"Talk shit, eat shit." Watari stared at them viciously, his eyes filled with anger and his fist clenched together tightly. He could have let it go if they were only talking about him but with Tsubaki it's a different story.

"You bastard!"

"Wanna fight?!"

* * *

As Kousei walked to the hospital he felt a slight sense of guilt. He wasn't sure what he did that made Tsubaki so angry. He refused to go with her but it's not as if he didn't have a legitimate reason. Perhaps the fact that he's not going with her is enough reason for her to be sad.

"Hey what's up with the sad face," said Kaori as soon as she saw Kousei.

"I think I got Tsubaki really angry at me," said Kousei as he sat on the bed beside her. This became his spot after she insisted that she felt uncomfortable sitting upright the whole time and wanted something to lean against. He wasn't complaining, it felt nice having her lean against him but he still couldn't stop the blushing whenever she did something like that.

"Did…she finally confess?"

"No, she- wait what? Did you say confess?"

'_I think I just said something I wasn't suppose to._'

"N-nothing, I didn't say anything," said Kaori but couldn't help stuttering.

"Tell me," said Kousei leaning in closer. Over the past few weeks of spending so much time with her he learned a lot of tells. One for example would be that Kaori was good at faking her emotions and lying…as long as you are not close to her. The closer he got, the more nervous she became.

"Promise you won't cheat on me."

"What the heck?" said Kousei making a weird expression, something between confusion and surprise, which made Kaori laugh.

"Basically…Tsubaki likes you."

There was a moment of silence that followed. He didn't really know what to do or say. The fact that Tsubaki might have liked him did cross his mind once when they were hiding from the rain and she said that he had no choice but to love her. But he never fully prepared for what to say if she ever did confess to him.

"Well I don't really see her that way," said Kousei finally which let Kaori feel a bit less worried. Then adding with a smile, "Plus I like you a lot more."

"Aww," said Kaori as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him in for a hug. Grinning and blushing much more than she felt she should. "When did you become such a smooth talker?"

"That's a first," said Kousei as he laughed and grabbed the box of caneles out of his bag.

"Did you make those?" asked Kaori teasingly.

"No, I didn't. You also don't have to be mean about my baking skills," said Kousei as he playfully elbowed her.

"No I think your baking skills are great! If you fail to become a musician I suggest you try being a pastry chef," said Kaori sarcastically while laughing. "People will taste your sweets and be like, 'what the hell is this?!'"

"You know what…"

"Anyway look," cutting Kousei off she slipped out of the covers and stood up, "I can stand now!"

Her legs were wobbling after a moment and right before she collapsed Kousei got a hold of her. "Although not for a long time."

"You don't have to push yourself," said Kousei as he sat down on the bed with Kaori on his lap.

"I'm just trying to work hard to get better faster; I need to play the violin. I'm feeling this sort of withdrawal symptoms ever since I heard you play!"

"Please don't make music sound like a drug."

"It is a drug to me! Did you bring the music sheets?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" Kousei reached into his bag and took out the sheet music they were planning to play for the competition, "Love Story" by Beethoven.

"Such a cheesy name," said Kaori with a blush, while leaning against Kousei.

"You're the one that picked it," said Kousei, blushing and looking at the girl in his lap. "In fact you pick the song every time, when will I ever get a turn?"

"Never!" yelled Kaori as she tackled Kousei. He got knocked on his back and his glasses flew off of his face. Kaori was right on top of him laughing away. Her hair was now in a mess and got in front of her face. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear which made her stop laughing and focus on him.

'_Whoa…_' She has seen him without glasses once when they jumped off the bridge, but never this close and she was quite surprised by how handsome he was without them. His dark blue eyes felt like two crystals, and the way he was looking at her was messing with her heart beat and made her stomach fluttery.

His hand lingered and he could feel the warmth of her face. Then all of his thoughts were washed away and all that was left was the feeling of her soft lips locking with his.

"Kousei-," said Kaori as they separated for a moment to breathe but was quickly cut off by Kousei as he pulled her down and kissed her again. She was surprised by how forward Kousei was but quickly relaxed again.

After several more minutes of stealing kisses from each other Kaori finally decided to stop, "We should stop before another nurse or my parents catch us again."

She laughed to herself when she saw a slight look of disappointment on Kousei's face. "C'mon carry me to the roof and we can look at the music sheets there, I want some fresh air!"

She climbed on his back and he made his way towards the roof top, the situation almost exactly the same as last time. Except this time she was on the road to getting better, and she was heavier than the last time he carried her.

"You got heavier." Happy that she was getting back to a healthy weight but neglecting how he said it earned him a hit on the head.

"I told you not to say I'm heavy! You better not be saying I'm fat!" said Kaori with a blush.

"Geez you know that's not what I meant." He rubbed the spot where she just hit him and laughed to himself. Even though she was impulsive and violent, before he realized he began to like this side of her as well.

He walked out onto the roof of the hospital, the sky was clear and snow flakes flew off of the ground as a current of wind blew it up. The small snowflakes went up and started to fall back down, 5 cm per second, almost like white cherry blossoms. They sat down together on the bench and began looking at the sheet music.

Kousei began humming and played the piece in front of him as if there really was a piano there. Kaori followed the lead and picked up her own imaginary violin and began humming as well. Terribly off tune yet so beautiful at the same time, the moment reminded both of them of the time they were performing together on stage and recreating that feeling perfectly.

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I'm going to keep trying to get out a chapter a week. School can get really busy for me and midterm is approaching for me so if I am a day or two late please don't be angry :P. Finally it really motivates me a lot seeing you guys leave a comment and makes me feel that it's worth the huge amount of time I put in!**

**NarniaPotterPercyClues15, Aiyoukhyra, ****HaveYouSeenThisOtaku, rex4487****: Thank you guys for your support!**

**Mermaid Monster: Thank you for leaving a review once again, I really do appreciate it when I see you leaving such a big paragraph to show your support XD! Thank you for pointing out my mistakes in your review, I don't know why but I made the mistake of writing Takashi instead of Watari many times during my writing session. Probably because whenever I write it's usually for around 4 hours so by the end of it I'm dead tired. I usually just skim over my work but I'll put in the extra 10 minutes to proofread it.**

**wrestling-with-jimmy: Thank you for leaving a critic, I don't find it mean at all, in fact I really appreciate it since you're taking time out of your day to help me improve my writing. My grammar is honestly not the greatest but I'll try my best to improve and make my stories more clear in the future.**

**denice001: Thank you for the support and thanks for pointing that out, I guess I missed it when I was adding in the line breaks.**

**LeGirlGamerHere: Thank you for showing your support and commenting on each chapter right after reading it! I also see that you have your own Shigatsu fanfic, there seems to be more and more everyday I check, and I wish you luck with your writing. P.S. Please don't steal my readers :')**


	6. Chapter 6 - Dance

***Author's Note: Once again thank you to all those who have been supporting me so far! I know that for a lot of you guys Kousei and Kaori is your favorite pair but for this chapter it is almost completely dedicated to Watari and Tsubaki (sorry!) because I just didn't want to split this part into two different chapters. I hope you guys enjoy the Watari and Tsubaki moments! :D**

**Chapter 6 – Dance**

"Hey Kousei let's play this game!" said Kaori as she turned her cell phone towards Kousei. "It says these are some fun questions to ask your partner."

"Alright sure why not, we need a break anyway," said Kousei as he dropped the piano sheets he was revising.

"You first!"

The first question that popped up was: How do you get along with your parents now?

"Ahaha let's skip this one," said Kaori after seeing Kousei's blank expression. "I swear I wasn't trying to bring up any bad memories or anything like tha- AHHH!"

What type of relationship did you have with your parents while growing up?

"Okay forget about this let's come with our own questions," said Kaori quickly closing her phone. Looking over at Kousei out the corner of her eye she noticed that he was staring at the ground thinking about something.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…back then I may not have been able to understand why she was so strict but now I think I get it. She was trying her best to look out for me and make sure I would be able to sustain myself with piano. The best way to make sure I win all my competition is to make me play every piece exactly how it is written."

"Kousei…"

"My relationship with my mom wasn't the greatest but in my most fond memories she's always there. She used to always play the piano while I fell asleep under it and it was the best feeling waking up to her playing."

After a pause Kaori broke the silence and decided to move onto something lighter. "If you were offered five million dollars in exchange for leaving everything you have behind, including me, would you do it?"

"Oh yeah for sure!"

"You…" said Kaori as began unleashing a barrage of punched who was sitting beside him.

"S-stop!" said Kousei as she laughed uncontrollably. "I'm kidding I swear!"

"What if it was ten million?"

There was a pause. "Um…"

"Stop considering!" said Kaori giving him another good punch.

"Alright, alright my turn, let's see…" He took a few to seconds to think up of his question and asked, "How would you describe a romantic night?"

"Oh, are you going to use that as a guideline when you take me out?" said Kaori giving Kousei a teasing smile.

"Perhaps."

"Hmm I would say we go out to have dinner and you give me some nice compliments…"

"Some nice compliments?"

"Yeah I mean you have to set up the mood right!"

"Okay continue."

"Then we have a slow dance to some classical music…"

"I can't dance."

"Who cares? It'll be more fun that way, and plus you're a musician, you have to know how to dance!"

"I didn't know that it was part of it when I started piano but okay," said Kousei while laughing.

"Then while we are walking home joking about how bad you were at dancing, you pull me in telling me you love me and kiss me!"

* * *

The place was already packed when Tsubaki got to the school. She was wearing a simple white dress. It was the only one she had but nonetheless she looked stunning; she was also wearing makeup for the first time in her life after her mother insisted. As she walked around trying to find her table, she drew the attention of practically every guy from across all the sport teams.

"Hey is that really Sawabe?"

"That's the tomboy?"

Finally finding her table she took a seat and waited for the principal to go up on stage and give a formal welcome to all the guests. It was a table for four, most likely to account for the plus-one of both her and Watari.

'_Crap, Watari probably brought a girl with him. It'll be awkward as hell with me not bringing anyone!_'

"Tsubaki!" Speaking of the devil, she immediately heard his voice calling from behind her.

'_What do I do?!_' But her worries were in vain because when she turned around the only person there was Watari all by himself.

"Is that really you Tsubaki?! Almost didn't recognize you there, you look much more feminine tonight than you usually do," said Watari as he took his seat beside her, "and is that makeup I see? Shit, the world must be ending if _you're_ wearing makeup!"

"Oh shut up." She punched him and he quickly drew his arm away and winced in pain. "Whoa I didn't punch that hard did I? Are you okay?" Now that she looked closer she noticed that he definitively wasn't. He had what looked liked a bruise under his right eye and his bottom lip had a little cut.

"Yeah I'm fine." He smiled but she could so easily tell it was lie so she prepared another punch. "Okay, okay merci!"

"What the hell happened to you?" She lowered her arm and leaned in closer to get a better look at his injuries.

"I…uh got into a fight."

"A FIGHT?!"

"Keep your voice down." He quickly kept the brunette from jumping up and attracting unneeded attention, the last he needed was for people from the athletic department of the high school he wanted to get into think he's a delinquent.

"You better explain yourself!" She couldn't believe he got into a fight! With all the flirting he does with practically every girl in the school (apart from her) it's a given that some guys are going to dislike him but he has never actually gotten into a fight before. Mostly because she knew that Watari didn't care about what others say about him and that he's a lot more responsible than he looks.

"Well…they were saying some really nasty stuff about the girl I like so…yeah I nailed them each with a soccer ball."

"You idiot!" She gave him a hard hit on the head and finally cooled down a little. "Right now is not the time to get into trouble. What if it goes on your record and you can't get into a good high school?"

"But…but…" It felt weird getting scolded by the very person he defended, even if she doesn't know it, but at the same time he was happy that she was worried about him.

"No more buts just tell a teacher next time or something other than starting a fight." She sighed and leaned back against her chair which disappointed Watari since he was enjoying the closeness they shared. "I didn't think you were that type of guy."

"What do you mean by 'that type of guy'?"

"You know, like the romantic type where they do all kinds of crazy stuff for the person they love."

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know…you're always jumping from girl to girl, the romantic type usually has only one he sticks with."

"Hmm I see. Well you know, I also have liked this one girl for a really long time."

"Eh, no way!"

"I'm serious."

'_Well he's still smiling but he does look pretty serious._'

"Alright now you definitively have to tell me about this girl!" The principal finished with his welcome and people started to walk towards the buffet able. "But before that let's get some food."

After filling her plate up with more food than what the football guys ate, they both returned to their seats.

"You're going to get fat eating all that," said Watari jokingly.

"Shut up," said Tsubaki as she began eating, "so tell me about this girl."

"Well…there's quite a lot, where should I start?"

"Hmm, how about what her personality is like?"

He quickly stifled his laugh when she asked him that. "Let's see, she's…aggressive, impulsive and emotional."

"What the heck, why would you like someone like that?" Watari lost it at that; it was too funny watching Tsubaki make fun of herself without even knowing it. "Did I say something funny?"

"Don't worry about it, as I was saying this girl does have quite a strong personality but that's also what makes her unique and fun to be around. She's also very beautiful and can be, on rare occasions, gentle and caring." He felt like he was pouring his heart out even though it wasn't really confessing since she didn't know it was directed towards her. It even surprised Watari himself since usually when people ask him what his girlfriend is like he just answers with 'cute' or 'hot'.

"Alright so if you like her so much why don't you date her?"

"Because she likes this other guy and even though I tried dating other girls to make her notice me she never did."

"Aww poor Watari," said Tsubaki sarcastically while popping a fry into her mouth. "Don't worry you'll find someone better."

"I don't want someone better, I want yo- HER."

'_Did she catch that?_'

"Seems like I misjudged you Watari Ryota, it looks like you're really into that girl," said Tsubaki as she got up and headed back towards the buffet table.

'_I could have sworn he was going to say you_…' She turned her head slightly to get a look at him, '_nah there's no way it's me._'

'_C'mon at least get a clue don't go back to eating Tsubaki!_' thought Watari as he pinched the bridge of his nose and laughed to himself at how clueless she was.

The rest of the night went by smoothly; Watari and Tsubaki made their rounds and talked to the people from the high schools they were interested in. As the event drew to a close the principal went back onto the stage and thanked all the guests again for coming.

"Now we will close with a dance, I hope you all have a great night!" The music started playing, classical and slow, people started moving out of their seats with their partner towards the middle of the room where the table was now cleared away.

"No way," said Tsubaki her cheeks going red as Watari extended his hand towards her and gave her an expectant look.

"Whose fault do you think it is that no girl wanted to come with me?" said Watari. "You owe me this much."

"O-okay fine," said Tsubaki taking his hand and immediately being dragged forward by him.

"I lied I never asked anyone."

"What?"

"Nothing!" They got in the middle and got ready. "Do you know how to dance?"

'_Oh. My. God. I don't know how to dance._'

"O-f, of c-course I know how to dance."

"Oh save it, your face says it all." Watari laughed and took her hand placing it on his shoulder. He then put his hand at her side and held onto her other hand. He then began to lead her, starting with the simplest thing he could think of.

He stepped to the right with his right foot and pulled slightly to signal Tsubaki to follow his lead. It was simple, step to right followed by the left foot then repeat in the other direction.

"Ow!" Watari winced as Tsubaki stepped on his toe.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to wearing high heels," said Tsubaki embarrassingly.

"It's fine." Giving her his best smile to try and get her to relax more. It was amusing for him as he watched her stare at her feet making sure she wasn't going to step on his toe again. The song ended, to Tsubaki's relief, and she started to walk back to her seat but Watari pulled her back.

"The song is over…"

"When did I say we were only dancing for one song?" said Watari playfully.

"E-eh?!" But before she could react she was dragged back and the next song started. Just when she thought she got the hang of it Watari stepped forward, up until now they have only been sort of swaying left and right, but he seemed to want more.

It was easier to get the hang of it since the concept was pretty much the same, he steps forward, and she steps backward and repeats with her stepping forward. The song was a bit faster but Tsubaki was still able to keep up thanks to Watari's crash course on dancing. He then held her hand above her head and she did a spin.

"I guess this isn't too bad," said Tsubaki, by now they were both smiling and enjoying themselves.

Noticing that the song was ending Watari began pushing his weight against Tsubaki which made her start to bend backwards. Right before she was about to fall he caught her and supported her weight with his hand behind her back. They hanged there for a few seconds; brown eyes locked and finally he held her back up.

"Why'd you do that?" Tsubaki's face red from embarrassment.

"To make things more interesting," said Watari with a smile. Now the music has ended they both noticed how close they were to each other and both took half a step back while blushing.

"Thank you for dancing with me mademoiselle," said Watari as he took a little bow which made Tsubaki giggle.

"Yeah, yeah let's get out of here." As the two walked back home together they laughed and joked about the night.

They stopped at the intersection where they part ways. "Well I'll see you on Monday," said Tsubaki as she started to turn but was stopped by Watari.

She couldn't register what he said next and the next thing she knew she yanked her hand away from him and started running away. Tears started spilling out of her eyes and she didn't even know why.

'_What just happened? This is too sudden, this can't be real!_' The phrase he said replaying over and over again in her head. '_Why?! Why?! Why?!_'

'The girl I love is…'

She ran into the house, up the stairs and slammed the door to her room as soon as she got in. "Tsubaki are you okay?" asked her mom knocking on the door. She couldn't get her voice back yet and was desperately trying not to fall apart.

'The girl I love is…'

'_Don't say it!_'

'The girl I love is…you.'

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading and please leave your thoughts and comments on this chapter! Also on a side note if the dance scenes were badly written I apologize for that, I suck at dancing so I have no idea what I'm talking about XD.**

**rex4487: To be honest I do have something for Emi in my mind for future chapters but probably not any big reactions since I never felt that Emi liked Kousei in a romantic way. As for Nagi I never gave it any thoughts so I'll think up something for her too (probably something short).**

**Mermaid Monster: At first I was planning to have Watari lie about his injuries but in the end Tsubaki giving him hell for it just made it a lot more interesting. I know how much you like Kousei and Kaori pair so sorry about this week's chapter .**

**NarniaPotterPercyClues15: Thank you for the support! I'm happy so many people liked Watari's sister XD**

**Aiyoukhyra: Holy shit 5 times! Damn I'm honored to hear that thank you so much for the support!**

**Dan Ying Hao: Yeah I guess it is moving a bit fast for the anime world since kisses usually take 20 episodes to build up. Thank you for taking time out of your day to point out my mistakes, I'll try to check for run on sentences more intensely XD.**

**denice001: Thank you for the comment! Others have pointed out that it is moving a bit too fast but I don't think the body contact is that bad. Maybe it was the setting that made it look like it was going to turn into a lemon XD.**

**Herolegend290: It was probably your review that made me finally decide to have Tsubaki give Watari a long lecture, a lot of people seemed to have expected that but I'll give the credit to you. Thank you for the support!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Stormy Night

***Author's Note: Yes I know, don't say it, I'm very late on the update. I'll try to get myself on track again for next week. Meanwhile please leave your comments and reviews it really helps a lot and motivates me a ton, even something short is very highly appreciated! As for those who have continually supported me week after week thank you and I hope my writing can continue to earn your support. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7 – Stormy Night**

"The girl I love…is you." Watari didn't even need to hear the answer. He could already tell by the expression that was on her face and the next thing he knew she was running away, leaving him alone at the intersection. It was almost midnight and the walk back home was a cold one. His mood was at an all time low yet the moon and its stars were shining brighter than ever, seemingly mocking his heartache.

'_The hell's is up with all those bright stars? Can't they read the mood? Some clouds would have been much more fitting…or maybe it's the sky's way of trying to make me feel better. Or maybe I'm just going crazy thinking that the sky reflects my emotions. Or maybe the sky just doesn't give a shit about me._'

His head was filled with so many different emotions that he was desperately trying to sort out. He was growing more and more frustrated since he never had to deal with anything like this before. Going against his logical side he decided to take a walk before going back home and arrived at the park. The wind was chilly but he couldn't care less right now whether he gets a cold or not.

"GAH I'M SO STUPID! Why did I tell her?" yelled Watari as he kicked a small pebble and laid down on a bench. Looking up at the vast night sky, he felt like he was lost. He had lost the goal that he's had for the past 10 years, all of his effort wasted. A drop of tear rolled down his cheeks as his heart clenched tighter and tighter. He covered his eyes with his hand and sobbed quietly, letting his sadness take over.

"Watari?" Hearing the voice he sat up immediately and wiped away his tears. He knew who it was and it took him only a few seconds to spot him.

"Yo Kousei what's up!" said Watari with a fake smile and a wave.

"Is something wrong?" said Kousei as he took a seat beside him.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was walking home from visiting Kaori. What about you, weren't you at the dance?"

"Yeah, I uh…I'm…taking a walk." He felt the wave of sadness coming back up and he didn't really want to break down in front of Kousei as it would be quite embarrassing. Not to mention awkward since he's sort of part of the problem.

"Is it about Tsubaki?" said Kousei after a moment of silence.

"Eh?! How did you know?" Watari was surprised; he always thought that he hid his affection pretty well.

"Well I always thought you two suited each other and that something was there."

"How did you notice that I liked her but not notice that she liked you?"

"Ah…I don't really know how to answer that," said Kousei looking down with a slight smile.

"Man I'm so lame. I've liked her for some many years and I still couldn't get her," said Watari as he leaned back and supported himself with his arms as he looked up into the starry sky. "Wanna share your secret with me? How come she's so attracted to you?"

"That, you're going to have to ask her because I have no idea," said Kousei with a laugh which made Watari chuckle as well.

"I wanted her so badly…," said Watari in a quiet voice and Kousei realized that he was crying by the tone of his voice. "Do you think I'm weak for crying over something like this?"

"No, I think you're pretty amazing for liking a girl for so long without any of your feelings returned. When I thought Kaori liked you, it was the worst feeling in the world watching you two while I was on the sidelines as Friend A."

Watari listened as he wiped away the tears that didn't seem to stop. "I don't think you're crying because you're weak but because you've been strong for too long."

"Well it's all over now," said Watari calmly.

"Did she say no?"

"Pretty much, I mean she literally ran away from me without saying anything so I'm assuming she doesn't like me back. Not to mention she still likes you so it might as well be impossible."

"Whether it's possible or impossible, the girl will tell you that." Feeling the impact of his own words he turned his head to Kousei. "Don't give up Watari!"

Watari laughed and got up, "Don't go stealing my lines like that." The circumstances may have changed but his goal is still the same. Whether she likes him right now or not, he's still going to continue chasing her for as long as he can.

The next few weeks were naturally filled with awkward encounters, Tsubaki decided to stay away from Kousei and Watari for the time being. But when something bad happens in life, more times than not something good follows right after.

"I'M FINALLY OUT!" Kaori ran out of the hospital yelling at the top of her lungs and extending her arms out to the sky.

"Congratulation on getting released, it's nice to have you back Kaori-chan!" said Watari as he handed her his gift.

"Thanks!" After checking the content of the bag she turned her attention to Kousei and held out her hand expectantly.

"Oh c'mon I bought you caneles like everyday," said Kousei dejected, "I hope you know I'm not rich."

"Kousei you gotta step up your game or else Watari-kun might come and steal me away," said Kaori teasingly.

"EH!?" Kousei's reaction caused the three of them laughed together.

"By the way where is Tsubaki-chan?" asked Kaori which quickly dampened the mood. "Did I miss something while I was gone?" Her question was responded by silence by both boys and her imagination took a turn for the worst.

"AH Kousei you swore to not cheat on me!"

"N-no, that's not what happened I swear!"

"AHHHH!" screamed Kousei as Kaori tackled Kousei.

"Kaori-chan don't worry, it's something about me." Watari's statement made Kaori stop pinching Kousei's cheeks and got her attention to him. After Watari explained to her what happened she looked like she just finished watching a sad romance movie and was on the edge of crying a river.

"Don't worry…I'm way better now compared to when it happened thanks to Kousei."

"Well I wish you the best of luck!" said Kaori while wiping away her tears and gave Watari a thumb up. "Me and Kousei have to get going now, gotta practice for the contest that's coming up soon."

"Are you sure you shouldn't rest one or two more days before we start practicing?" asked Kousei, the last thing he wanted was Kaori back in the hospital for overworking.

"Don't be ridiculous I'm fine! Now let's stop wasting time and practice!" She grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him away. "See you later Watari!"

Watari smiled as he looked at the couple walking away. "What to do now?" Looking up at the sky he noticed that the weather has been getting steadily warmer for the last few weeks. "Weather's looking nice so soccer it is!"

* * *

"Kaori…"

"We're starting practice right now and I'm not taking no for an answer."

"I know but…"

"Listen I'm going to be fine." She was scared as well, what if she pushes herself too hard and her symptoms come back, but she felt like she was ready.

"That's not what I was talking about…I just want you to stop dragging me, I can walk on my own."

"Oh sorry I got caught up in the moment." She pulled him up and smiled apologetically. "It was fun dragging you around."

"Well it wasn't fun being the one that's getting dragged," said Kousei as he got up and patted off the dirt on his clothe.

"Well…how about we hold hands and make up?" said Kaori and extended her hand.

"But…isn't that a little…" Kousei blushed and looked away nervously.

"You're acting like you don't want to hold my hand…Don't tell me you're embarrassed to have people see me as your girlfriend," said Kaori with a pout.

"N-no, that's not it. I never dated anyone before and I'm not sure how to act as a good boyfriend so I don't want to embarrass you…"

"Geez you're holding my hand, it's not like you have you sight read Chopin or Beethoven on a stage," said Kaori as she extended her hand out once again. This time he took it and she entwined her fingers with his long slender ones. Both blushed a little more and felt more like a couple. The atmosphere changed slightly and a feeling of happiness budded in their hearts, all just from the new closeness and contact they shared.

As they reached the front of Kousei's house Tsubaki stepped out of hers at the same time. As soon as Tsubaki saw the two she wanted to get out of there, there was no need for her to torture herself while watching them all lovey-dovey.

"Tsubaki!" called out Kaori, it seems that the brunette moved too slow and was spotted before she could leave quietly.

"Oh, hey Kaori, nice to see that you are all better now," said Tsubaki, trying her best to put a smile on her face. She then turned her gaze towards Kousei and nodded slightly. "Kousei…"

"Hey Tsubaki…"

"Nice weather we're having."

"Yeah." Unsure of how to continue the conversation or what to say, a silence followed as the three of them stood there awkwardly while staring at each other.

"I uh have a softball game with my friends so see you guys later." Tsubaki excused herself and ran toward the park.

'_I come out to cheer myself up and I meet one of the two people I didn't want to meet! Just my luck!_'

"I shouldn't have said anything, should I?" said Kaori, feeling terrible for making Tsubaki feel bad.

"Maybe not but I'm sure you didn't do it with ill intentions. Tsubaki is strong, she'll be fine."

"I hope so…" said Kaori hesitantly.

"Plus she got Watari to support her. There's no way he'll sit there while she's feeling down!"

* * *

'_Stupid Kousei!_' Tsubaki was lost in her thoughts and ran with her eyes closed. Suddenly, a soccer ball between her feet and caused her to fall. "Who in the world…"

"Oh my God I'm so sorry are you o…" The two of them stared at each other, their first time meeting after what happened.

"Tsu-" Before he could call out her name she picked up the soccer ball and threw it full force at his face causing him to fall backwards.

She quickly got up and started running away from the scene. '_Great now I got to meet the second person that I didn't want to see! I'm on a roll today!_'

"What the hell was that for?!" said Watari as he got up. '_I'm the one that should be angry at you, why are you the one that's angry at me?_' He noticed that she left behind one of her shoe and decided to chase after her to return it. '_Hopefully when I catch up to her we can talk for a bit._'

She looked back as she ran and saw that he was chasing after her. "Go away I don't want to talk to you right now!" She tried to go faster but then noticed that she was missing one of her shoe. '_What the hell?!_'

"Wait up!" yelled Watari as he held up her shoe.

"You stole my shoe?!" Tsubaki yelled back still not stopping.

"What?! No it fell!"

As uncomfortable as it was running with only one shoe, she still stuck with her decision to not talk to him.

'_Are you kidding me? She doesn't want to talk me that badly?_' thought Watari as he stopped chasing. '_Fine if you don't want to talk to me then I'll keep your shoe!_' That's when Tsubaki stopped and fell. Watari quickly ran forward to check if she was okay, as he came closer he saw her lying on the floor clutching her bleeding foot which had a piece of glass stuck in it.

"Tsubaki!" He quickly knelt beside her and looked at the wound, it was wedged in fairly deep and blood was gushing out.

"Stop…I don't want to…talk to you," said Tsubaki as she winced in pain and tried her best not to face the boy beside her.

"Damn it Tsubaki why didn't you just stop a take your shoe?!"

"Why did you chase me?! If you didn't chase me I wouldn't have stepped on the glass!"

"How could you possibly blame me for this? I was trying to return your shoe after you threw a soccer ball to my face!"

"I wouldn't have thrown it at your face if it didn't roll between my feet and made me trip!"

"That's not within my control! How am I supposed to know you were walking there?"

"I don't know! OW!" The wound in her foot refused to be ignored any longer and made her cry out in pain.

"W-w-what are you doing?!" yelled Tsubaki as Watari picked her up bridal style.

"Shut up. Your house is nearby isn't it? I'll carry you there and we can get you some first aid there."

"No way! Don't I get any say in this?"

"No."

"EH?!"

"I'm not going to just watch as you lie there in pain." Tsubaki fell silent after hearing those words and seeing his determined expression.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Feels like forever since I've been here!" yelled Kaori as she walked into the house and kicked off her shoes.

"Well the place hasn't changed much," said Kousei as he took off his shoes as well. "Tea?"

"Nah." She shook her head and pointed to the piano room. "Let me hear you play!"

"Sure. What do you want to hear?" asked Kousei as he sat down in front of the piano.

"How about Canon in D by Pachelbel?"

"That's song is so easy though." '_I want to at least show off a little._'

"Oh did you want to show off?" said Kaori in a teasing tone with a smirk.

"N-no…"

"Hmm really?"

"Maybe a little."

"Just play it for me," said Kaori as she laughed at Kousei's shy honesty. "I'll be your judge for today."

"Alright fine." He started with a slow and gentle rhythm, and even though it was easy it still had a beautiful sound. The rhythm then got faster as the melody came up and Kousei decided to change the simple broken chords to solids. The tune was relaxing and rested in the air easily.

"How did I do?" asked Kousei after he finished the piece.

"You fail!"

"EH?!"

"I asked for Canon in D but you played a variation that was in the C major key!"

"But this version is better."

"Too bad." She smiled as she stuck out her tongue. They spent the next few hours practicing their audition piece and joking around. Before they even noticed, time has already flown away and it was close to 9 p.m.

"I better get going before my parents start worrying about what I'm doing with you at your house," said Kaori. She laughed as Kousei's face turned red from his imagination. "I'll see you tomorrow for practice." When she opened the door there was a huge storm outside, the wind was so strong that many signs were flying in the air and the water almost reached her ankle.

"I don't think it's safe right now, just stick around for a bit longer and wait for the storm to calm down a bit."

"You're right," said Kaori as she quickly stepped back inside the house her clothe already soaked from standing outside for a few seconds.

"Don't stare!" yelled Kaori as she blushed bright red. She hugged herself and tried to cover what the wet clothe were sticking onto.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" stuttered Kousei as he blushed just as red and quickly looked away. "I-I'll go get you a towel!"

After getting changed into dry clothe the two of them went into the living room and turned on the TV to check when the storm would calm down.

'I hope you are not planning to go anywhere tonight because this storm is not going to stop until tomorrow! It is highly advised that you stay inside your house as wind speed is reaching as high as 80 km/h!'

The two of them sat there and as they registered what was just said the two of them both turned to face each other. "Does that mean…"

"I have to stay for the night?!"

***Author's Note: I had a lot of trouble coming up with how Watari would react after being rejected so if you guys have any comments on that or if you felt that any character were OOC please tell me! Other than that thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter XD!**

**rex4487: Thank you for the support! It makes me super happy that you enjoyed the last chapter since I wasn't sure if people would like the extra WatariXTsubaki. To be honest I would love to give longer chapters but it takes me so long just to write the length I'm putting out right now (around 4-6 hours each chapter) along with all my school work it just gets a bit heavy.**

**Mermaid Monster: I'm happy someone caught my attempt at foreshadowing Watari and Tsubaki's night with a small twist. Thank you so much for all the support you've shown, you have once again reassured me on one of the scenes that I wasn't 100% sure readers would like or understand (Tsubaki running away)! Also funny that after you've complimented me on my consistency I fail you XD.**

**HaveYouSeenThisOtaku, Aiyoukhyra, ****Herolegend290****: Thank you for the continuous support!**

**Dan: I'm happy this story helped you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to show your support!**

**Losiriel: Thank you for the support and I'm happy that I helped you cope with the ending :D!**

**Transmundane-Transmutation-95, ****Only Exception 23: Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment on multiple chapters! Highly appreciate it and I hope you can continue to support me XD**

**Chris: If you're still reading. Hi. LEAVE REVIEWS INCREASE MY POPULARITY LOL!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Focus on Me

***Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It really did give me a boost of confidence and motivated me a lot to get this chapter done. ****I****f you can****,**** please take a little time out of your day to leave a review or even a short comment on whether you liked ****this chapter**** or not! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8 ****–**** Focus On Me**

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" yelled Tsubaki as she tried her best to push Watari out of her house. '_There's no way I'm spending the whole night with him!_'

"Stop pushing me, I'm getting soaked! Can't you see there's no way I can go home when the weather's like this! AHH!" Watari quickly ducked as the gale blew a restaurant sign right over his head. "DID YOU SEE THAT?! THAT WAS THE YUKIHARA SIGN FROM DOWN THE STREET! I'M GONNA FREAKING DIE IF YOU MAKE ME GO OUT THERE!"

"I don't care! Get out!"

"Is this how you treat the person that saved you, not once, but twice?!"

After almost losing his life Watari decided that he's going to have to force his way back into the house so he started pushing back. Despite being a girl Tsubaki still was able to keep him at bay for some time until her injured foot gave out on her. She fell backwards along with Watari who fell as well due to the sudden lack of resistance.

"Oww…" Tsubaki slowly opened her eyes and felt the weight of the boy on top of her. That's when she realized that Watari was lying right on top of her! She stared at him angrily and blushed crimson red.

"Oh c'mon, this isn't even my fault," said Watari before he got punched in the face and pushed off.

* * *

The telephone ran in the Miyazono bakery and Kaori's dad quickly picked it up. "Hello? Kaori?"

"Hey dad…"

"Oh thank God you're okay! Where are you right now? Do you see the weather outside?"

"Yeah…uh about that…I'm still at Kousei's house right now…and I think I might have to stay um for the night…"

There was a pause. "I'll be there in a second."

"Wait, honey you can't go out there in that weather," said Kaori's mom.

"But, my poor Kaori must be so scared right now and want to come back home."

"I'm not being kidnapped here! Look dad, me and Kousei aren't going to do anything. It's just one night and this situation was purely circumstantial."

After a long time of thinking and debating with his wife, Kaori's dad finally agreed. "Pass the phone to Arima-kun for a second."

"Hello? Yes…Yes I understand…No absolutely not I-I wouldn't…No I didn't create this storm…Okay…Bye."

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Treats about killing me if I did anything to you, along with suspicion of if I planned all of this," said Kousei as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Your dad is really something else."

"Yeah…" said Kaori as her stomach grumbled and caused her to blush.

"It's pretty late so I'll start preparing dinner," said Kousei as he gave her a smile.

"Wait, are you sure you want to cook? Because your baking skills were…"

"You can't judge someone's cooking by their baking, okay? Plus I've been living alone for a couple of years now, I know how to cook." Kousei walked off into the kitchen and took out some ingredients from the fridge. "Wanna help?"

"Uh sure…" She hesitantly walked into the kitchen.

"Can you prepare the soup?"

"Y-yeah of course!"

"You do know how to cook, right?"

"Kousei I grew up in a bakery of course I know how to cook."

"Okay…"

"Is the soup done?" asked Kousei after some time passed.

"I think so."

Kousei took a spoonful and tasted it. "Why is this so sweet?" They exchanged eye contact for a second and Kousei realized what she had done. "Kaori, did you mistake the sugar for the…"

The answer was clear from the taste and Kaori simply nodded shyly as she blushed. "Hey they look the same so you can't blame me, okay?"

Kousei simply sighed. "Fair point, next time just taste it before you toss it in." He took the spoon and stirred the pot slightly and whole uncut vegetables floated up.

"What the…Why is there an uncut carrot and potato…Kaori!"

"You had to cut those?" Her question was answered with Kousei's petrified face.

"When do you cook vegetables without cutting them? These aren't even peeled…"

"I'm sorry…"

"You suck at cooking, don't you?" She was about to rebuttal but closed her mouth and nodded.

"You don't have to lie about being bad at cooking."

"But…doesn't that mean that I'll make a bad wife?"

"What? No of course not! Look I can cook just fine so just let me take care of you then." Right after the words left his mouth he blushed bright red. '_Did __I__ just __insinuate__ that __I__ want to marry her?_'

"Then you promise you'll always cook for me?" Kaori blushed as she held her pinky out.

"I promise," said Kousei as he took her pinky in his.

* * *

"Tsubaki is this how you treat a guest!?" yelled Tsubaki's mom as she found her daughter beating Watari.

"Did you not see what he just did?!" said Tsubaki as she held Watari by the collar of his shirt.

"Put him down right now, he's the one that carried you all the way back and gave you first aid. You should be thanking him."

"Yeah Tsubaki you should be thanking me." His comment earned him a stern stare which caused him to cower back in fear. "S-sorry."

"I'm so sorry about that," said Tsubaki's mom as he got up from the floor, "Tsubaki can be very…impulsive sometimes so I thank you for looking out for her."

"Ah no it's nothing," said Watari humbly, "I should be thanking you for letting me stay for the night."

"Oh please, you and Tsubaki have been friends for years, this is nothing. Dinner is ready so you two should get seated at the table."

"Your mom is nice," said Watari after her mom went back into the dinning room.

"Don't start having weird thoughts about my mom."

"Whoa, okay, that's going too far! My guy friends don't even go THIS far when teasing me."

"Well my mom looks like me and since you like…" Both of them blushed as she tried to say the last part of her sentence. Awkwardness washed over the two of them and suddenly she realized that her point made zero sense. '_What the hell am __I__saying?__!_'

"Anyway…moving on! Let's go eat," said Watari as he tried to salvage the rest of the night from being spent uncomfortably.

"Y-yeah good idea."

"You have the EQ of an ant, you know."

"Shut up," said Tsubaki as she punched Watari in the arm out of embarrassment.

* * *

"Bon appétit!" said Kousei as he set the plate in front of Kaori.

"Look at you, going all French," said Kaori teasingly.

"Sorry I've always wanted to say that."

"It better be good!" She picked up her spoon and drank the soup. It had a heartwarming flavor and a light taste. "Mhmm…"

Kousei smiled as he looked at his girl enjoy the food. He sat down across from her and began his dinner as well. "How is it?"

"It's delicious!" The two of them continued to eat in silence, unlike most people they enjoy the moments when nobody is talking. It made the moment feel normal but made both of them feel special since it was their company that mattered.

"I'll do the dishes, since you cooked." She picked up her bowls and plates and walked to the sink.

"Wait, you don't have to. You're the guest." He quickly finished his bowl of rice and went to join her.

"Just dry the ones I finish washing then," said Kaori as she passed the washed bowl to Kousei.

As the two washed the dishes together, a thought suddenly popped in her head which made her blush. "What's wrong?" asked Kousei as he noticed that Kaori suddenly stopped.

"This…makes me feel like we're married…or something."

"M-m-married?" stuttered Kousei as he blushed as well.

"Did I say something weird again?" She looked back at him with a smile.

"N-no, but please don't tease me like that."

There was a loud thunder followed by a flash of lightning, and then suddenly the house went completely dark. "AHH!" screamed Kaori.

"Calm down, the power lines probably got hit…K-Kaori?" He noticed that Kaori was hanging onto his arm tightly. "Are you okay?" She shook her head as she kept her eyes closed.

"I'm…scared of lighting."

"O-oh…" '_Cute__…_'

An idea popped inside his head and he held her hand and led her back into the piano room. "Sit here," said Kousei as he patted the space beside him on the stool. "I used to be scared of lightning as well when I was little so my mom used to do this for me. Just focus on the sound of the piano and you'll forget about the lightning in no time."

She gave a small nod and sat down next to him, still holding onto his jacket. He began playing, rather than trying to drown out the thunder, he played a soft and relaxing tune. As she listened, the notes conjured a completely different environment. The dark clouds dissipated and moonlight bled through. The shy stars showed themselves and the night went back to its quiet peacefulness.

* * *

"The power went out."

"Thank you Captain Obvious."

"Now you can't just ignore me by watching TV."

"I wasn't ignoring you…"

"So the person that refused to talk and look at me while I was trying to start a conversation was a different person, right?"

"Alright fine, what do you want to do?"

Watari paused to think for a moment and an idea popped into his head. "Let's play Three Card Monte!"

"What's that?" asked Tsubaki as Watari took out a deck of cards out of his pocket.

"So we have the Monte, the money card, here. Queen of Hearts. All you have to do is find this and you win. The catch is there are two other cards; I'm going to take out two Jokers."

"We got one Joker," said Watari as he showed her the cards, "two Joker, and the money card. Ready?"

"Yeah, what are we betting with?"

"Hmm, if you get it wrong, you have to answer a question I ask you truthfully and if you get it right then I'll do the same. Deal?"

Tsubaki hesitated, '_What is it that he wants to know?_'

"Is this Tsubaki…hesitating? Is she afraid to lose?" taunted Watari. "Don't tell me her eyes are not fast enough to follow three cards."

"Shut up, I'll play your stupid game!"

"Alright Round 1!" Watari held one card facedown in his left hand and held the queen and Joker face up in his right. He flipped his right hand and gave Tsubaki a facedown card out of his right hand with the Joker remaining. "Where is the Queen?"

"It's obvious! You had the queen and Joker in your right hand and you gave me a card. You still have the Joker in your right hand so you had to have given me the Queen! It's here!"

"Well…you just lost one round," said Watari with a smile as he flipped over the facedown card in his other hand to reveal the Queen of Hearts.

"WHAT?! Then what do I have here?" She flipped over the facedown card in her hand and revealed a Joker. "No way…but…you gave me the…"

Watari simply laughed at his confused friend, "Onto Round 2!" This time Watari placed a card in her hand and had the Queen of Hearts face up and another card facedown left in his. He flipped them over and revealed the Joker that was facedown. "Where is the Queen?" asked Watari as he held the facedown card in his left and the Joker in his right.

"It's right there," said Tsubaki as she pointed to his left hand.

"See you just lost again," said Watari as he flipped over the facedown card in his left to reveal another Joker.

"What the hell!" Tsubaki flipped over the card in her hand and revealed the Queen. "How are you doing this? You're cheating for sure!"

"How am I cheating? You see the three cards," said Watari as he tried to contain his laughter while showing the brunette the Queen of Hearts and two Jokers.

"I don't know! But you're doing something!"

"Alright I'll take this as an 'I'm done playing this game'. Now time to the two questions I have."

"What do you want me to answer?" asked Tsubaki as she nervously gulped.

Watari took a deep breathe and looked at her seriously. A bolt of lightning illuminated the room for an instant. "Tsubaki…what is…" '_What is it that you don__'__t like about me?_' "…the color of your panties?"

"Wh-"

"White?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT YOU PERVERT!"

"Ow, ow, it was a joke, a joke! HELP!" At that moment the soft sound of the piano resonated through the room which made Tsubaki stop.

"What's wrong?" asked Watari as he noticed the clear change in her mood.

"I used to listen to him play all the time and I thought I meant something to him…but now I can't hear a single note played for me." Her eyes filled up with tears once again.

"Then stop listening," said Watari as he put his hand behind her head and placed his forehead against hers, "and focus on me."

"I'm so sorry," said Tsubaki as she began to fully cry and hugged Watari. "I'm being so selfish right now. I can't even give you a proper answer to your confession and now I'm relying on you. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," said Watari as he hugged back. She continued to cry in his arms and the sound of the piano slowly disappeared from their world.

***Author****'****s Note: I know once again ****I'****m another two weeks late so ****I**** hope this chapter was worth the wait. I had trouble coming up with what Tsubaki and Watari would do and how they were going to break the silence. If you had trouble following the magic trick, search up David Blaine Three Card Monte (****I**** apologize if my description wasn****'****t good)! **

**rex4487: And as always thank you for the supporting comment! The idea you gave me was genius as well, I didn't even think about having them call their parents!**

**Mermaid Monster: Wow your reviews are getting longer and longer…I love it! I'm happy someone liked the scene between Watari and Kousei; I wasn't really sure how to have Watari transition from hurt to determined. Once again I'm happy that my writing made you smile and I thank you for leaving another encouraging review!**

**HaveYouSeenThisOtaku, Aiyoukhyra: Thank you for the continuous support!**

**fromplanetpheromones****, ****AliciaPinkyDolls****, ****SkulK1****, LovingThisCrapXD, ****ElementumInfragilis****, ****bankai****117****: Thanks for taking time to ****support this story**** and I'****m glad you guys liked it! I hope my writing can continue to earn your support in the future!**

**AOE: Thank you for leaving a review this time then, and thank you for the support!**

**DeathByReading: Thank you for support! Best Shigatsu fanfic out there huh? XD**

**ryan1jr: Of course we're going to keep it upfloat! Thank you for the support!**

**ramsey****: Thank you for your review, ****I**** appreciate the time you took out of your day to point out the OOC (yeah maybe ****I**** went a little too far with that scene XD). I also thank you for the support ****and I ****hope my writing can continue to earn it!**

**Writ3r's 8lock****: T****h****ank you for the support! And yes you were ****right;****I**** took the storm idea from Nisekoi :P**


	9. Chapter 9 - Night Under the Stars

***Author****'****s Note: I AM SO SORRY I ABANDONED YOU PEOPLE FOR SO LONG! Since my school board had a strike, the teachers have been crash coursing through so my homework and test went up through the roof. Right after that ****I**** went on vacation so ****I**** was once again delayed. All that plus my procrastination and laziness made me not update for around a month. Thanks to those who reviewed and ****I**** hope you guys will enjoy this chapter as well (hopefully there are still people reading this)!**

**Chapter 9 ****–**** Night Under the Stars**

The sound of music stopped as the last rain drop hit the glass window pane. Kousei looked at the sleeping beauty beside him and smiled to himself. He picked her up bridle style and carried her to one of the guest chambers. After tucking her in, he got up and was about to retire to his own bedroom as well but was stopped by a hand that held onto his shirt.

"Stay."

"E-eh!?"

"In case I get nightmares," said Kaori smiling as she closed her eyes again. Kousei changed into his sleep wear and complied with her request. It was nerve-wracking to be sleeping with the girl he liked (not in that way) but somewhere in his heart he was hoping the night was going to end this way.

"Your dad is going to kill me."

"My dad doesn't need to know about this." As she finished her sentence, Kousei felt her arms wrap around him and the warmth of her body seeped into his.

"K-Kaori?"

"Shh, I'm sleeping."

Kousei sighed and decided to just enjoy the moment and live with the consequences later if her dad ever found out. He turned his head and saw that her head was only inches away from his and blushed madly. '_Who needs sleep anyway?_'

* * *

The moonlight bled through the dark clouds as they slowly drifted away revealing a sky sprinkled with stars. The night was back to its usual silence and had a new rain-washed scent. The two brunettes were walking out on the streets, following the endless smudgy illumination of the lamppost from one spotlight to the next.

It was sort of a silent mutual agreement not to sleep after Tsubaki stopped crying, the storm ended around then so the two decided to come out for a walk. They walked side by side in silence, something that has been more common than not in these last few weeks, but the silence they had at that moment was different. It was silence they were both comfortable in.

"So…why don't you tell me why you like a girl like me so much?" asked Tsubaki as she hopped over a puddle of water.

"For a second I thought we were going back to the 'let's-not-talk-about-what-happened' game," said Watari as he smiled a little and stopped walking. "You've asked me a tough question."

He paused to think about his answer. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

_10 years ago__…_

_The young boy slowly walked towards the girl, she was making what looked like__…__he didn__'__t know what it looked like but she was making something with her tiny little hands. She worked on it as if it was the next great sculpture that was going to rival Auguste Rodin__'__s __'__The Thinker__'__._

"_W-what are you making?__"__ asked the young Watari shyly._

"_This?__"__ Tsubaki stopped and held up her work. __"__It__'__s something special __I'__m making for my friend, Kousei. He__'__s stuck playing piano all day at home so __I'__ll bring something back to his house!__"_

"_Oh, uh, then c-can __I__ help?__"_

"_What?! No way! If it__'__s not made by me alone it would lose its meaning!__"__ yelled Tsubaki as she held her mud ball away from the boy. __"__Plus you look like a wimp so you probably couldn__'__t help me. Look at you, you__'__re so skinny, especially your legs! Do you even eat properly?__"_

_At that Watari started to cry which made Tsubaki start to panic. She already got yelled at by her mom many times for making other boys cry and she did not want to deal with that today. "__Hey, calm down __I__ was just kidding! Your legs are fine__…I'__m sure they__'__ll be big and strong when you grow up. You__'__ll be like__…__amazing at soccer or something.__"_

"_B-b-but __I__ suck at soccer__…"_

"_D-don__'__t worry, you__'__ll get better and then you__'__ll be a star like that M-meddi guy!__"_

"_You mean Messi?__"_

"_Yeah that guy! You__'__ll be just as good of a player as him!__"_

"_Thanks__…"__ Watari blushed slightly at the compliment. __'_I'm going to be a soccer player…'

* * *

"I started playing soccer that day after I went back home," said Watari as he looked at the sandbox where the two of them met.

"And look at you now, young Messi," said Tsubaki as she gave him a friendly nudge. "I got the name right this time."

"It's actually Meddi."

"Wait what?!"

"I'm just messing with you." He laughed and ruffled up her hair with his hand. "Moving on with how I fell in love with you."

_A few days later__…_

_A little boy was alone on the soccer field, practicing keeping up the ball but failing at only the third one. He then practiced his shooting but failed as he missed the ball with his__ swing and fell flat on his face._

"_What is this kid doing?__"__ People walking by laughed and shook their heads. A couple of young boys slightly older than Watari walked up._

_A big chubby boy who was missing his front tooth went right up to little Watari. __"__Hey, this is our field. Why don__'__t you go play somewhere else?__"_

"_W-why? __I__ was here first.__"_

"_Listen little boy, either you leave or we__'__re going to pop your ball.__"__ The other boys behind him held up Watari__'__s soccer ball in one hand and a needle in the other._

"_Wait__! Please don__'__t pop it that__'__s my only one!__"__ Watari was trying to get past the chubby boy in front of him but he didn__'__t let him through. The other boys simply laughed as they inched the needle closer and closer._

_BAM!_

_The boy holding the soccer ball fell on the ground as a soft ball hit him in the head. __"__LEAVE HIM ALONE!__"_

_The boys turned and saw a barrage of softballs flying at Mach speed towards them along with Tsubaki that was running towards them. __"__AHH IT__'__S TSUBAKI!__"_

"_Leave us alone Tsubaki!__"_

"_Then you guys need to stop being jerks!__"__ Tsubaki stood in front of Watari facing the boys and extended her arms protectively in front of him._

'Whoa she's like a superhero…,_'__ thought Watari as he admired her from behind._

"_Today is the day we d-d-defeat you Tsubaki! We came prepared!__"__ The boys formed a circle around the two of them and attacked Tsubaki from multiple directions. But even at a young age she was still stronger than __a lot__ of boys who was older than her. Watari watched as Tsubaki fought off one boy after __another;__ it was like watching a bear fight off a course of dogs._

_Suddenly one of the boys grabbed Watari and held both of his arms behind him. __"__Hey leave him alone!__"__ shouted Tsubaki but the distraction gave an opening for the chubby boy to tackle her to the ground._

"_We finally got you!__"__ The chubby boy sat on top of her pinning her to the ground._

"_Get off of me, fatty!__"_

"_F-f-fatty?__"__ He pulled on her hair. __"__I__'__m not fat __I'__m just chubby!__"_

"_We should feed her sand!__"__ One of the __boys__ suggested and the rest of them shouted in agreement._

"_LEAVE HER ALONE!__"__ Watari hit the face of the boy that was holding his arm with the back of his head. As soon as he was released, he pulled back his leg and kicked the soccer as hard as he could, nailing it straight into the chubby boy__'__s face. __'_I did it!'

"_You little__…"__ The boy was cut off before he could finish his sentence by Tsubaki__'__s uppercut. Their leader knocked out cold on the ground, the other boys all ran away crying._

"_You were really cool!__"__ said Tsubaki as she walked up to Watari, giving him a big bright smile which made Watari turn into a ripped tomato._

"That was the moment I fell for you, head over heels," said Watari as he finished up his story. "You made me into a more confident person, gave me a hobby that I now worship and was my first friend in this neighborhood. The following years only further enforced my feelings but at the same time I slowly learned that you had only Kousei in your sights. You may have known Kousei longer than you have known me but I have always been the one by your side…"

'_All those days when Kousei was stuck playing piano at home, Watari was always the one that was with me. When __I__ was sad he was the one that comforted me. When __I__ was sick or hurt he__'__s the one that took care of me__…'_

"…and I always will be."

'_How could __I__ have not noticed someone who was _this_ kind to me?!_'

"Tsubaki Sawabe!" said Watari in a serious turn but with a playful smile which snapped Tsubaki out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes?!"

"I love you. I love you because you are a big dummy, because you have zero awareness for others' feelings nor your own, because you seem so strong yet you still need someone to take care of you, because you are so kind, because you are so damn beautiful…I love you because you are so perfectly imperfect."

"Enough…" Tsubaki slowly looked up, little droplets of tears in her eyes and a big blush on her face. "I've hear enough. I…ditto what you said."

Right as she finished Watari wrapped her in his arms and held on tightly. "I'm not letting you go now that you've said that." His voice shook slightly and tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Mhmm."

The two followed the same path of streetlights back to Tsubaki's home, still in the same comfortable silence but this time hand in hand. "What a night this has been."

"Yeah, all the stars seemed to have showed up for the drama as well." Watari pointed to the night sky filled with little dots of ember burning alongside a beautiful full moon. The night was almost over and the moon was low in the sky and that's when an arc of sever colors appeared across the sky.

"Oh my…look at that!" shouted Tsubaki as she pointed to it excitingly. "Is that a lunar rainbow?"

"Kaori get up!" Kousei yelled as she shook the girl beside him to get her to wake up. "Look at that!"

"Make a wish," said Watari as he squeezed his partner's hand.

"Shouldn't it be a shooting star?"

"This is just as rare. Here, I'll make one too."

"Let's make a wish," said Kaori as she grabbed Kousei's hand. "I wish that we will be the best in the upcoming Royal Conservatory Music Competition!"

'_And__…_'

"I wish that I will have a great softball season at my new high school!"

'_And__…_'

"Let's go outside to see it better Kousei!" The two of them rushed out quickly and met Tsubaki and Watari as they came out. There was a moment of silence when the two pairs saw each other, Tsubaki and Kousei exchanged looks and both of them smiled for each other's happiness. The two couples joined together and talked about the natural phenomenon that just occurred and just like that their group was back together.

* * *

**Brief sneak peak to (possible) future characters:**

The upbeat tune flew out of the piano and slipped into each empty space in the mansion, the black teenage boy's fingers jumped and danced on the piano keys.

"Nash what are you doing? We have to go, the plane is leaving soon!"

"Sorry dad, I just had to play after listening to him."

"You'll get your chance to face him at the competition."

"That's too long! My fingers are shaking with excitement after listening to you…Arima Kousei!"

"Ah I'm finally here, Japan!" The blonde girl drew the attention of all the guys as she stepped out of the airport. "Let's play a little something to celebrate my arrival." She dropped her bags and took out her jet black violin. As she took her time tuning it, people stop in their tracks to see what she is going to play and some even take out their cell phones to record. She begins, a swaying melody, Beethoven Sonata No. 9 Op. 47 "Kreutzer". '_Arima Kousei__…I'__m here to steal you._'

***Author****'****s Note: I had a hard time deciding whether Tsubaki was going to start dating Watari or ****I**** was going to hold out a bit longer but in the end my patience for these kind of things are really short when watching anime or reading manga so ****I**** just decided to make them happy XD. Got ****a lot**** of ideas for ****future**** chapters but it will involve introducing new characters****…****so tell me what you guys think! Should ****I**** add new characters or no? (NEW ARC WILL BE ABOUT THE MUSIC CONTEST) Last but not least please leave a review to show your support and also to reassure me that there are still people reading this! It helps ****a lot**** with motivation and also simply makes my day ****a lot****a lot**** better!**

**Mermaid Monster: Thanks for review once again! I****'****m sorry for making you wait so long XD.**

**rex****4487: Wow that made me really happy knowing ****I**** can make someone laugh with my story. Thanks for your continuous support!**

**Aiyoukhya: YES somebody noticed my Shokugeki no Soma reference!**

**Adammattaway: T****h****ank you for taking the time to leave a review!**

**HaveYouSeenThisOtaku: Thank you for leaving a review every single time! It really means ****a lot****.**

**TheFeels: Thanks for the compliment XD. I****'****ll try my best to update more frequently.**

**PillsburyDB11: F****i****rst of all thank you for taking the time to write such a long review and thank you for the support. I****'****m really happy that you ship Watari and Tsubaki as well, when ****I**** first introduced the couple ****I**** wasn****'****t really sure what was going to happen :P. I hope my writing can continue to earn your support!**

**TheAbnormal: Sorry for making you wait! I know ****I**** should be keeping up a consistent updating schedule but it****'****s so hard . ****Nevertheless****, thank you for leaving a comment and encouraging me to keep writing.**

**OnlyException23: Damn someone read my story a million time, damn****…**** LOL**

**TylerBytez: Thanks ****a lot**** for the support!**

**xXNHXX: Yes.**

**Anonymous2200: T****h****anks for the review and ****I'****m glad you enjoyed the chapter! Also special thanks for giving me my 90****th**** review WOOHOO!**


	10. Chapter 10 - Let's Win!

***Author****'****s Note: WHOOHOO 100 REVIEWS! Thank you to everyone who left a review last chapter and sorry for the wait! Many of you reassured me about this new arc and ****I'****m very excited to start it off! I****'****ll try my best to still include the fluffy scenes everyone likes and ****I**** hope you all enjoy these next few chapters.**

**Chapter 10 ****–**** Let's Win!**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

The maddening sound of the alarm clock ran around Kousei's room which stirred him out of his dreams. Tired from staying up late last night to practice, he rolled in his bed sheets and let his body enjoy the warmth for a little longer. When he could no longer stand the sound of the alarm he reached up his bed to turn it off but before he got to it the sound ceased.

"Sleepy?" said a girl's voice.

"Yeah, just give me one more minute," said Kousei still too out of it to realize. '_Wait a second__…_' His eyes snapped open and he quickly put on his glasses and sat up from his lying position. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?!"

Kousei was nervous, there was a stranger in his house and on top of that the girl was out of this world beautiful. She looked like she was around his age with a slender figure. She had long straight blonde hair that flowed down her back with a cross shaped ornament protruding from behind her ears. As she looked straight into his eyes, her magenta eyes seemed to give off a dangerous yet playful vibe. "That's kind of rude Arima-kun; you're saying you don't remember me after such a wonderful night?"

"W-w-w-what happened last night?" The girl smiled as he stuttered and inched closer to him.

"Let me remind you..." Her face moved in and she closed her eyes. Right before she was able to kiss him the door flew open.

"Kousei get up today is the da-" Kaori froze in her track as she saw the scene before her. "KOUSEI!"

"No, no, no this is not my fault!" He pushed away the girl that was almost right on top of him. "It was her!"

The girl turned around and locked eyes Kaori. "Do you need something?"

"Do _I_ need something? You're the one trying to force a kiss with _my_ boyfriend! So I want to know who you are and what the hell you're doing here?!"

'_The word boyfriend sounds nice,_' thought Kousei as he blushed a little.

"She's your girlfriend?" asked the blonde girl as she turned back to Kousei. "Well this is disappointing. My beloved Kousei has a third rate violinist as an accompaniment and as a girlfriend."

"What did you-"

"You talk a lot for someone who's never heard her play," said Kousei in a serious tone, cutting into the argument which surprised both of the girls.

"Hmm what happened to the quiet and shy guy that was here a second ago," said the blonde girl as she broke into a smile. "But I'm not going to lie; this one is much more attractive."

"You can come in here and play a prank on me but don't insult my partner, my _girlfriend_'s skill."

'_The word girlfriend sounds nice,_' thought Kaori as she blushed as well.

"You're that confident in her skill?"

"I'm willing to bet my pride as a musician that Miyazono Kaori is an incredible violinist."

"Alright since Arima-kun is so confident in your skills…" The blonde girl turned back to face Kaori. "How about a little wager? If I place above you guys in the Royal Conservatory Music Competition then Kousei will go back to Italy with me after the competition and be my accompaniment."

"You have to be kidding right?" said Kousei; he didn't know what he should be feeling right now. Happy that someone from Italy came all the way over to Japan to get him to be her accompaniment or laugh that a joke so ridiculous could be made?

"I assure you this is no joke or prank, I'm a hundred percent serious and I expect you to follow through with the terms when I win."

"Fine, but what happens if you lose?"

"HEY, DON'T JUST PUT ME UP FOR A WAGER WITHOUT MY CONSENT!"

"I'll do whatever you want."

"You better be prepared to follow through with the terms as well."

The blonde girl let out a small laugh and took off the white glove she was wearing and threw it on the ground. "My name is Aurora Blandelli; this is _galateo del duello_, the etiquette of a duel. Picking up the glove will be proof that you accept this wager."

Kaori picked up the glove and new aura seemed to have surrounded them, an aura of competition. Aurora smiled and picked up her violin case that was resting beside the bed. "Don't come crying about being outnumbered two against one when you lose," said Kaori as she walked by her.

"I'm not worried about that, I can fill all the roles myself." She raised her hand to wave goodbye without looking back and walked out. "_Buona fortuna_ Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori…you'll need it."

"Now that's a love triangle I want to be apart of," said Watari as he walked into the room with Tsubaki. "Kousei, my man, how do you do it? OW! OW! I'm sorry it was a joke, a joke!" Tsubaki let go of his cheeks and turned to Kousei and Kaori.

"Are you guys sure you should be making these wagers? I'm pretty sure someone who's that confident in winning is not a bad player, what will you do if you actually lose?"

"Yeah, good question. What will we do Kaori?"

"We're not going to lose!"

"Well it doesn't really concern you since YOU'RE NOT THE ONE THAT'S GOING TO ITALY IF WE DO!"

"This is going to be an interesting competition isn't it?"

* * *

The building that was hosting the competition wasn't the usual Towa Hall; it was located at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, a building almost three times as big as the Towa Hall capable of sitting over 2000 people in its Main Hall. The building was separated into three floors, the Main Hall was located on the third floor and the Blue Rose (small hall) was on the first floor. The main foyer was on the second floor with bar lounges on both sides along with a cloakroom, it began to fill up as people from various parts of Japan and even some foreigners filtered in.

"When is that guy going to show up?" said Takeshi to himself as he stood there tapping his foot impatiently.

"Rather than focusing on him you should be focusing on yourself." It was a female voice he knew well.

"I see that you showed up as well Emi, excited to see your crush?" said Takeshi teasingly as he turned around.

"I don't know where you get that assumption from but for the hundredth time, I don't like him like that."

"O-kay whatever you say." He put his hand behind his head, still clearly not convinced.

"Ah Ochiai-sensei it's nice to see you again," said Akira Takayanagi, Takeshi's teacher, sarcastically. "But don't you think this competition is a bit high level for your field of expertise?"

"Oh my, is this what a sore loser sounds like? Or maybe fear? After we crushed you in the last competition maybe you're threatened by us," responded Yuriko Ochiai, Emi's teacher, with a tone full of hidden malice.

"Not this again…" said Emi pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe long ago there was a rivalry between them."

"Onii-chan did you see Arima-sensei yet?" asked Nagi as she walked towards the group with Toshiya Miike, her violin partner.

"No not yet, why are there so many people here when this is only the preliminaries?"

"A lot of famous up and coming musicians are participating this year and it's not everyday you get to see all of them performing at once," said Emi. "Which is another reason why I told you to focus on yourself; this is going to be much harder than the usual Gala concert. There are only 5 spots to the next round-"

"They're here!" interrupted Nagi as Kousei's group walked through the door.

"Arima! What took you so long?!" yelled Takeshi as he walked up to them.

"There was an…unexpected delay," said Kousei hesitantly, unsure of how to describe the situation he was in this morning.

"Well then how about we get going, it's almost time to start," said Kousei's teacher, Hiroko Seto

'Dear guests of the Suntory Hall, there is a slight delay due to the fact that the piano tuning was not perfectly accurate. Please wait patiently as we get this issue fixed as soon as possible. Thank you for being here at Suntory Hall.'

"The piano wasn't tuned properly? How is that even possible? Every concert hall tunes their piano right before any performance so it should be spot on right now unless the job was done by a bad tuner," said Kousei, shocked by the announcement.

"I would assume that a place such as Suntory Hall can afford the best tuner there is," said Takeshi. "Who was the person that said it wasn't tuned proper-?" Before he was able to finish his sentence, an elder man dressed in the Suntory Hall employee uniform interrupted him.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Arima Kousei?"

"Yeah that's me," said Kousei.

"The tuning is going to take a bit of time, Mr. Saji, the founding president, told me to go out and look for some of the performers today and ask them to entertain the guests a bit while we get the tuning done. Would you mind doing that?"

"Uh," Kousei hesitated and looked over at his group.

"Wow look at you, being picked out to entertain the guests!" said Emi.

"Hmm it'll be interesting to see how you've improved compared to the last time I saw you," said Takeshi.

"You should be honored, the fact that they picked you meant that your skill is being recognized," said Hiroko.

Finally he looked over to Kaori. "Go! Show them what you're made out of!"

"Alright!" said Kousei with a smile after the boost of confidence he got from everyone.

He quickly got changed into his performance attire and followed the employee to a piano that was set up in the main foyer.

"Oh! Is that Arima Kousei?"

"Is he going to play right now?"

Whispers spread around the room and soon there was a big circle formed around the piano. Kousei sat down and unbuttoned the last button of his suit. He took a deep breath and look over at Kaori one more time.

A quiet tune of two notes was played by his right; it then picked up speed as he added in his left hand as well. The shy and timid melody at the beginning has now grown into a confident and fast one. His memories of been 'Friend A' came alive through the piano and soon enough all the eyes in the main foyer were captivated by his play. Sounds as colorful as 24-color palette flowed through the foyer. As Kousei closed his eyes to relish in the moment and relive some of his old memories, suddenly the piano made a loud low sound which he did not play which made his eyes snap back open.

Kousei stopped and looked to his left, shocked along with everybody else in the room by the action of the African-American boy that was standing there. "I didn't come all the way here to listen to you play this boring crap," said the black teen. "If you're not going to play something else, step aside."

"What the hell are you doing?" yelled Takeshi as he stepped forward.

"I'm talking to the number one here, not the number two," said the black teen, not even bothering to look at Takeshi as he dismissed him.

"What did you s-?"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Emi. "What you just did was absolutely unacceptable! Not only did you rudely interrupt his performance but you also did not respect Arima as a musician! On top of that you insulted my friend!"

"Hey, hey don't get mad at me. I'm just speaking the truth and I can easily prove it." He looked over at Kousei and gave him a challenging stare.

Kousei simply looked back at him in silence and smiled. "If you wanted to play, you could have just said so." He got up and made a gesture for him to sit.

"Kousei?!" Everyone was astonished by his action.

"Why didn't you fight back?" asked Kaori as he rejoined the group.

"Well I wasn't just going to say 'no'. He did something so bold and I kind of respect him for that," said Kousei sheepishly which made Kaori sigh.

"This is for you," said the black teen as he looked towards Kaori and winked, "cutie."

"What the hell is his problem?!" said Kousei which made both Watari and Tsubaki laugh at the contrast between the reaction of someone interrupting his playing and the reaction of someone flirting with his girlfriend.

"At least we get to see what he's made of," said Emi. Everyone's gaze was now on the brash challenger, ready to gauge his skill and see what he's made of.

He began with two notes playing them over and over again and suddenly everyone realized what the song was, Fur Elise.

'_For someone who talks so much trash, to think he would play such an easy song,_' thought Takeshi. Whispers spread through the crowd, almost everybody thinking the same thing as Takeshi.

The performer simply smiled and took a shaker out of his pocket and held it with his mouth. "Good musicians copy…but great musicians steals!" He began to nod his head causing the shaker to set a beat and suddenly Fur Elise's rhythm and melody changed.

"This is…"

"Ragtime!"

His fingers flew around the piano, going fast then slowing down while the base of it all was still Fur Elise. It was not a calm classical that amazes people to the point of not being able to speak but an upbeat jazz that slips under everybody's feet and make them want to move. Soon the people that doubted him all began to laugh and dance to the music. The color of the sound changed constantly and when the chaotic climax finally came there was no doubt that this was no longer Beethoven's song, it now belonged entirely to him.

As he finished, he stood up and raised his hands in the air. The crowd applauded and cheered for him. He turned to face Kousei with a smug look. '_What now?_'

"We are happy to announce that the tuning of the piano has now been fixed. All contestants please report to your designated dressing room. Thank you for your patience." The announcement caused the crowd to disperse and move towards the Main Hall.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone our match Arima Kousei." He turned around and began walking towards the Main Hall but then turned back to face Kaori. "Oh by the way my name is Gold Nash; I live in room 1408 at the InterContinental Tokyo Hotel!"

As everyone tried to stifle their laughter at how disgruntled Kousei looked when Nash said that, a middle age black man walked up to them. "Hiroko is that you?"

"Rob! Wow, it has been so long since the last time I saw you!"

"How ironic for us to meet back here at the Suntory Hall?" said Rob as he chuckled and gave Hiroko a quick hug. "I saw Nash giving you guys quite the rude first impression. Sorry about that, he is just extremely competitive and was quite excited about meeting Arima Kousei."

"I had a feeling that was your kid."

"Well we do have the same last name."

"Oh, I was talking about how arrogant he was," said Hiroko as they both laughed.

"Well I would call it confidence since there's backbone behind his trash talk, the boy has more talent then both me and you."

"Well this one over here," said Hiroko as she grabbed Kousei's shoulder, "has more talent than Nash."

Rob laughed loudly. "Now that is the definition of arrogance! But you know what? I won't argue with you about it now, I'll judge for myself. I'll see you around, Hiroko."

"Who was that?" asked Nagi as Rob walked away.

"He's Gold Robert, one of the best jazz pianists out there; he and I use to be rivals." She looked over to Kousei. "You better be careful, if he says that Nash is even more talented than he is, then you're in for a tough competition."

As the group moved towards the dressing room, Watari came next to Kousei. "Looks like you have some new rivals."

"Yeah, Emi and Takeshi were already tough enough. Now I have to watch out for Aurora and Nash," said Kousei as he sighed.

"You better go fight that Nash guy," said teasingly Watari as he tried not to laugh, "or else he's going to steal Kaori from you."

"Do you really think he'll steal her from me?!" asked Kousei as he turned to look at Watari with bloodshot crazy eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Tsubaki as he grabbed Watari's head. "This idiot is just teasing you."

"An idiot that you like," said Kaori as she joined in the conversation.

"Kaori!" yelled Tsubaki as she blushed and went to grab Kaori. "Well you better watch out for that blonde chick."

"Hey I'm not going to lose!" The group laughed, walking together with just enough for everyone.

Kousei then bumped into someone and quickly apologized. "Excuse me, but could you lead me to Dressing Room #2," asked the person he had just bumped into.

Kousei looked up and got a closer look at the person, it was a teenage boy with medium length black hair. The thing that stood out was the fact that his eyes were closed and he was holding a black walking stick.

'_Is he__…__blind?_'

"Y-yeah of course, we were going there ourselves." The blind boy held onto his arm and as they were about to start walking again, someone called for them to stop.

"Shusui, I was looking everywhere for you! Why did you come out here?" It was a teenage girl with white hair and she seemed quite upset.

"After I confirmed the sound I heard someone playing jazz out here and I wanted to hear it better."

"Wait you're the guy that said the tuning wasn't accurate," asked Takeshi.

"Yes, that's correct."

"How do you tune pianos if you are…?"

"Oh no, I'm not a tuner, I'm a pianist."

"A pianist?!" said everyone at the same time.

"That's some pretty good hearing," said Akira impressed by what he just heard.

"A gift of blindness."

"More and more amazing competitors just keep showing up," said Kaori taking a big sigh. "Makes me feel like we haven't practiced enough, don't you think Kousei?"

"Kousei…Arima Kousei?" asked Shusui.

"Yeah that's me."

"Was it you that was playing before Nash?"

"Yeah, wait how did you know it was Nash that was playing?"

"I see…," He paused and thought about something without answering Kousei's question. "Your playing…has failed to move up to the next level."

"What?" asked Kousei, confused by what Shusui just said.

"Pianists like us evolve through loss. At the Towa Hall competition you were close, that's why you caught the attention of so many world class musicians like Nash. But now that you've failed to do that, you won't stand a chance against us." After he finished he turned around and held onto the white haired girl's arm. "Let's go Aika."

His words shocked Hiroko since it was the exact same thing she thought but angered Kousei. "Are you saying it would have better if I had experienced that loss?"

Shusui paused and remained silent as he kept his back turned to Kousei. "Y-"

"We need to go!" Aika interrupted before he could finish his response and gave a small bowed before they left. "Sorry for bothering you."

Kousei stood there pondering what Shusui just told him. '_My playing would have evolved if __I__ lost Kaori?_'

"Kousei?" asked Kaori with a concerned tone.

'_Nonsense!_'

"Let's go win!" With his eyes filled with determination and his body full of spirit, they walked into the Main Hall.

***Author****'****s Note: Thank you for reading and ****I**** hope you guys liked the new characters ****I**** introduced. Tell me what you think of them and ****please leave any thoughts or comment about my writing! It always makes my day whenever I ****read a review so ****I**** appreciate everyone who drops one. Nash's performance was inspired by the Jazz Version of Fur Elise by Pianotainment, GO CHECK IT OUT IT'S AMAZING!**

**25 Baam: Thank you for the support and the ****encouragement**** on adding the new characters!**

**Ankai-chan: Thank you so much for the praises XD! There were ****a lot**** of times when ****I**** wasn****'****t sure if it was the right reaction with Tsubaki and Watari but ****I'****m happy people liked it. I****'****m happy that ****I**** was able to cheer you up with my writing!**

**rex****4487: Thank you so much for reviewing once again and I****'****m happy ****that**** you found it worth the wait. I was so worried that ****I**** had lost all my reader .! Thank you for the suggestion, ****I**** will see if ****I**** can write something along those lines. I hope that my writing can continue to earn your support!**

**Mermaid Monster: Thank you for the encouragement on adding the new characters, ****I**** was worried that people ****wouldn't**** like the idea of OCs but ****I'****m happy there was a positive feedback on my mention. Thank you for commenting about the setting, it really means ****a lot**** to me since ****I**** actually do ****a lot**** of research to make sure my facts are on point. AND I JUST REALIZED I CAN MAKE THEM GO ON A DOUBLE DATE! WHY DID THAT SLIP MY MIND?**

**TylerBytez: Thank you for the review and the ego boost XD! It means ****a lot**** to me when people say stuff like this :****'****), I hope ****I**** can continue to earn your support!**

**DeltaOp1: Thank you so much for that review XD! I hope to earn your future support with my writing!**

**story**** lover23: You waited for it****...I feel bad for letting you wait so long XD! Thank you for sticking around and continuing your support for me!**

**TheLaughingStalk: Thank you for the encouragement on the new character and thank you for taking time out of your day to leave a review!**


	11. Chapter 11 - Csárdás

***Author****'****s Note: I****'****m sorry for the ****extremely**** late update. I was on a summer vacation and after that ****I**** lost a lot of motivation for writing. So if you are still reading this, thank you for being so patient and enjoy XD!**

**Chapter 11 ****–****Csárdás**

_T__h__e night before__…_

The house was pitch dark yet the sounds coming from the piano were perfect, Piano Sonata No. 14 Op. 27, Moonlight Sonata First Movement by Beethoven. Not one missed note when you couldn't see your hand in front of you. There's no mistaking who was playing to Nash as he walked in. He listened, although the clouds were covering the sky Shusui's playing made moonlight pour out of the clouds; enough to diffuse the inky blackness of the night but not so bright as to dull the stars. It was to say the least…breathtakingly beautiful music.

"Could you not play such depressing music? It makes you seem like a ghost in this dark house," said Nash as he turned on the light and sat down on the other piano across from Shusui. "You should make it sound something like this…" The melody and rhythm of Moonlight changes and rather than a calm beautiful moonlit night the scenery changes to a festival celebrating the start of a new year.

"Would you like to tell me why you're in my house Nash?"

"Just checking in, seeing how my good old buddy is doing."

"I'm fine, now if you don't mind I need to practice for the competition tomorrow."

"Oh no," Nash grinned mischievously as he slammed his hand on Shusui's piano to stop him from playing, "I need to make sure you're okay."

Shusui sighed. "Your desire to get your ass kicked again is always surprising."

"One day I'm going to make you eat those words," said Nash as he laughed. He sat down and both pianists took a deep breath. There was a moment of silence, the calm before the storm, and then they began their battle.

* * *

"Aika!"

The white haired girl turned around as she heard her name. "Ah Aurora! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the competition tomorrow."

"Eh? I didn't think you would come all the way from Italy, especially since your tour around Europe was going to start soon."

"Well I was looking for a pianist to accompany me through it and I think I found a pretty good candidate. This trip is more about convincing him to join me rather than the competition."

"Is it Arima Kousei? Shusui has seems to have taken an interest in him after hearing him play."

"Yup, that's my target. Even though I much rather have Shusui, I'll control myself for you."

"Aurora!" said Aika as she blushed at the comment.

"By the way did you make any progress yet?" whispered Aurora as she leaned in and covered her mouth with one hand.

"No…we've been focusing on the competition," said Aika as she looked down

"Aww it's okay Aika," said Aurora as she gave her friend an one armed hug. "It's a shame Shusui is blind, you've 'grown' quite nicely."

"Eh?" Aika was confused by the comment until she realized Aurora was staring at her chest. Her face turned bright red and she clenched her fist as she began chasing Aurora. "I'm going to kill you!"

* * *

"So this makes it my 49th win to your 0."

"I'm home!" said Aika as she walked in. "Ah Nash leaving already?"

"Yeah, I did what I came here to do," said Nash quietly as he walked out. '_Complete defeat...once again. To think he could replay my songs by just listening to it once...and even improving it._'

"What happened?" asked Aika.

"We had a little competition and I won," said Shusui matter-of-factly.

"I see...you don't seem that happy about winning," said Aika with a small laugh.

"What's there to be happy about?"

"E-eh? But you just..."

"Hmm?"

"Never mind..."

* * *

"Hmm Yukihira...Sawabe...Arima! Finally found it!" exclaimed Aurora. The sound of the piano and violin flowed out of the house and put a smile on her face. '_What a pure and innocent sound. Shusui is going to be quite disappointed._'

Then the music suddenly stopped and she heard voices coming out of the house. "AHH Kaori you just did another 17 line skip!"

"Yeah, don't you think it has much more impact that way?"

"You know how hard it is to accompany you when you do those random lines skips..."

"Deal with it!" At that Aurora burst out laughing, this startled the couple inside.

"Did you hear something?" A blonde haired girl's head popped out of the window but Aurora hid behind a lamp post just in time.

"No, geez Kaori you're starting to hear things. You need to rest, go home." The front door opened up and Aurora risked a peek at the two that were standing at the door.

"I can't sleep over?" asked Kaori.

"I had to put up with your dad's wrath the last time you did, I rather not go through that again," said the black haired boy. _So that's Arima Kousei. _

The two stood there and stared at each other for a moment. Letting the silence settle in and the cloak of the night hide them. As they both took a step forward Aurora turned away, letting the stars be the only witness to the kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Kousei smiled and waved back at her. Feeling energized from what just happened he decided to practice for a bit longer.

Aurora got out of her hiding spot and listened as the music began again. Paderewski: Nocturne in B-Flat Major Op. 16 No.4, it was a song of first love and how naïve it made Kousei seem. Yet the picture he painted was a beautiful one, a starlit night, a figure stands alone on top of a hill looking at the horizon. The song is slow and every single note, every single rest was dedicated to that figure. The ending nears and the crimson rays bursts through the edge of the world and causes one of the stars to fall.

Before Aurora realized it, her cheeks were completely red and her heart was racing. The music captured her and she was now sure that the pianist she was looking for was Arima Kousei. At that moment she decided to do something crazy, she hopped over the gate and climb to the window which was opened. Peeking inside she saw the black haired boy on the edge of falling asleep.

She took out her jet black violin and sat on the window frame. "_Un grazie per la splendid prestazione._" A magical lullaby which put Kousei into a deep slumber, one which he did not awake from when she put him to bed and one which will not let him remember the jet black violin.

* * *

The clock's hand moved steadily as Kousei sat there using every last drop of concentration he had to go over every detail of the piece he was about to perform. Between all his new rivals, Kaori and he were the first ones to go. He wanted to show all of them what they were capable of and prove Shusui wrong. While thinking about all of this he didn't realize that Kaori was standing in front of him asking him whether or not her dress looked good on her.

"AY!" yelled Kaori as she grabbed Kousei's cheeks and made him snap out of his zone and focus on her. "I asked you a question."

"H-h-huh?" asked a confused Kousei as he began to sweat a little. What did she ask him again?

"I asked you whether this dress looked good or not," asked Kaori as she did a little twirl. She was wearing a simple strapless black dress with a flower design over her heart. The color of the flower petals contrasted the dress well and the darkness of the dress only enhanced her golden locks. To put it simply, she was gorgeous and for a second Kousei felt a little pride and at the same time felt a little undeserving of her.

"Do you really even need to ask?"

"Entertain me?"

"You look amazing Kaori,' said Kousei simply. He was now examining his own attire, it's the same blue suit that he always wore…he really needed to get a new suit. As his thoughts were going through what color his new suit would be it was immediately dragged back as the staff informed them that they were going soon.

Nerves began to act up; thoughts of messing up were starting to cloud his head. He looked over at Kaori and knew that she was battling the same fear. '_That's the price we musicians pay_.' As the previous performers stepped off the stage, Kousei reached out his hand and squeezed Kaori's one last time before they walked out to meet the audience. Both gave a small bow and quickly scanned the room to find any friends or rivals. Tsubaki and Watari were waving their hands and his teacher had a smile on her face. He smiled back and took his seat.

Kaori raised up her violin and he positioned his hand over the keys, she looked back, and they exchanged a final look. '_No backing out now._'

"Elohim, Essaim…Elohim, Essaim…I implore you…" whispered the two.

"Quite early to be selling your souls to the devil," laughed Aurora as she caught what they were saying.

It's the piano that begins, low and slow chords, the audience is sent to a hospital. The violin follows, the sky is grey and there is a vacant bed. The sound is beautiful yet holds so much sadness. Csárdás by Vittorio Monti.

'_That's weird,_' thought Takeshi and Emi, '_to think they would try to compete with a sad song._' It was not the style the duo was known for and this beginning certainly surprised a lot of people in the audience.

"Sounds like a song about loss," said Aika to Shusui.

"Yes," responded Shusui. "The sadness feels very real; perhaps Arima is going to share something personal."

"It has to be the death of a loved one, they even dressed according to a funeral," said Aika analyzing Kaori's dress. '_But what is that flower bud for?_'

Kaori gave a quick glance behind her and met Kousei's eyes. He knew what that meant, and his mouth broke into a smile. The rhythm completely changes and the low and slow notes rise to high and quick ones. As if woken up from a bad dream the scenery changes to a high spirited spring day. The flower bud design on Kaori's dress begins to bloom as the rhythm gets faster and faster. The sound changes once more, keeping the same melody it switches to a different key and pace. The climax hits and the flower blooms fully revealing a beautiful pink petal flower with a golden center, a peony.

"These two are insane!" laughed Nash.

The audience is entranced and is amazed as if they were watching a magic show unfold before them. Among them was Aika, a slight rose painted her cheeks as she looked at the two performers. '_Peonies a symbol of happy marriages and romance…_' Then a slight feeling of envy overtook her for a second and she stole a glance at Shusui realizing that they would most likely never play anything like this.

The song gets quieter and the notes get higher and slower. The flower starts to close up again. The violin finally gets to a place where it can no longer go any higher and reaches a silence. The audience gets ready to applaud. "Oh c'mon is there any way these two are going to end off like that?" said Watari with a smile as he looked over at Tsubaki.

"I think I know where this is going," said Tsubaki with a smile of her own now.

There was no need for eye contact this time; the two were in perfect synch. The high spirited tune comes back and the two plays it faster than they've ever played it. The flower blooms once more and the duo finishes. There were no doubts this time, the audience all give a standing ovation and shouts of praise come out.

"BRAVO!"

"AMAZING!" Kaori and Kousei both stand and give a bow to the audience. "PHEW! It's OVER!" yelled Kaori as soon as they were hidden by the curtains and out of hearing.

"You played that last part way too fast," said Kousei, he was breathing heavily and was sweating as if he had just finished a race.

"That was the best part!" The two laughed at each other and both of them collapsed against the closest wall. Kaori leaned her head against Kousei shoulder and closed her eyes; bad hygiene wasn't going to affect their high right now.

"Oh I have something for you," said Kousei as he reached into his suit pocket.

"What is it?" asked Kaori confused by why Kousei was taking off the peony that she had on her dress.

"Let me take that and give you this." He pulled out a yellow dahlia and placed it where the peony was. Kaori tilted her head even more confused than before now.

"What is this suppose to mean?"

Kousei laughed slightly. "It's nothing."

***Author's Note: Late? Yes. Short? Yes. Guilty? Yes. PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I did a fair amount research and got really lucky when trying to find a song for those two. I know in previous chapter I said they were going to do "Love Story" but "Csárdás" was almost too perfect so I had to pick it. If you want to know what it sounds like just search it up on YouTube, I based mine off of The Webb Family's version. I very highly recommend doing this! If you enjoyed this chapter and you are still reading this story please leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! **

**Aiyoukhyra: Thank you so much for the constant support, I hope you are still here…XD **

**Mermaid Monster: You too man, you always leave such encouraging and awesome reviews. I hope my slowness in update didn't lose you…Also, here is how Aurora got into Kousei's house XD bankai117: To be completely honest I felt like last chapter was a bit rushed as well after re-reading it but when I was writing it felt completely different. Thank you for your criticism and I hope that this chapter was a bit better. **

**TheLaughingStalk: Thanks for the continuous support man (or grill I don't discriminate)! **

**TylerBytez: NOO don't expect the three way fight for Kousei! I'm sorry you might be a little disappointed about that but I hope you continue to enjoy the stories and the back stories of these OCs. Thank you for the encouraging review and your support! **

**rex4487: LOL why is everyone wondering how Aurora got into Kousei's room? This is anime world, logic does not apply! Thank you for the support! **

**DeltaOp1: Oh man, you've been kept waiting for far too long… **

**The Flame of a Raindrop: NOOO! COMPETITION! archery713: AYY you listened to Love Story…too bad I didn't get to use it…But I hope that you would give Csárdás a try as well! Thank you for the support! **

**ThePizziaMan: Thank you for taking time out of your day to leave a review! RoyalRedcoat: YES! **

**Vangran: I'm not going to lie, your review is what motivated me to keep writing. The way you expressed your view of the OCs really encouraged me. So thank you!**


	12. Chapter 12 - Shadows and Cravings

**IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT: I'm participating in a fanfiction writing contest and I'm using Love's Melody. If you like this story I plead you to take a moment of your time to go to this website**

**www . inkitt [slash] fandom2**

**and press the little heart beside my fanfic. If you do this you will get an invisible high five from me and it will be greatly appreciated XD!**

***Author's Note: HERE WE GO! Before we start I know that there are no professional music competition that host piano solo, violin solo, piano violin duet and four hands piano duet. But for the sake of the fanfiction we will say that it exists.**

**Chapter 12 - Shadows and Cravings**

'Contestant #1103, Aurora Blandelli.'

The blonde girl walked up on the stage, she gave the audience a smile and bowed. She was wearing a white dress with frills which contrasted well with her jet black violin.

"That last performance was really amazing!"

"They are going to make it past the preliminaries for sure. I'm happy that I bought tickets for the second day of the contest!"

"This is going to be hard for her," said Akira, Takeshi's teacher. "Following a performance like that is going to be hard."

'_Hmm seems like nobody is giving me any attention,_' thought Aurora as she prepared herself to play. '_Well...not for long at least._'

She begins with some long lonely notes, with each string of sounds that came out of her violin she took a step right. The sounds of her violin drag the attention of the audience to her and drains the colors that the last performance left behind. Shadows by Lindsey Stirling.

A couple of fast notes lets her do a little spin and before the audience could even react she changes the tempo again. She begins to add some small hops and the song gets faster and faster. The faster she played the longer her shadow seemed until she reached the first climax.

The tune transformed from one that was lonely to one that's as lively as the last performance. Yet the colors of the sound remained the same monotone black and white. Aurora danced from one side of the stage to the other as she played; getting lost in her own world that she has created, a world where no colors exists.

"It's amazing how she can move around so much without missing a single note," said Aika as she admired her best friend.

The climax begins to die down, the pace begins to slow down and the volume dips to a near silence as well. She stops playing and silence fills the room. The audience is about to clap but then they hear a faint sound of a violin playing. It was Shadows.

"Impossible...," said Kousei as he looked closer at the TV screen that was broadcasting the performance. "She's not moving a muscle."

"Mommy look! The shadow is playing the violin!" yelled a 4 year old girl in the audience.

The sound explodes and Aurora joins in with her Shadow creating a violin duet that leaves everyone absolutely astounded. She dances with the Shadow and finally the two play the same melody again and end off with one long note. With that note the colors come back and the world Aurora created begins to fade.

Everyone in the audience get up on their feet and begin to cheer and clap for Aurora. It was like a magic show and the little 4 year old girl was left with a new spark in her eyes. Aurora saw the little girl, smiled and gave her a wink.

After bowing to the audience one last time, Aurora walked off the stage and saw Kousei and Kaori. "How was it Arima-kun?"

"How was there sound when you weren't moving?" asked Kousei which made Aurora smile devilishly.

"A magician doesn't reveal his tricks and neither will I," said Aurora as she walked up to Kousei. "At least not until we're on that tour in Italy."

She then turned to Kaori. "What about you? Not as loud as you were the last time we met. What do you think of my play?"

"N-not half bad...," said Kaori as she averted Aurora's gaze.

Aurora leaned in beside her ear and whispered something which caused Kaori's eyes to widen. "Well then, I will see you two later!"

"What did she say?" asked Kousei after Aurora left.

"Nothing...," said Kaori, "I just know that I have to practice a lot harder now."

* * *

A handful of performers followed but none were able to come close to Aurora or Kousei and Kaori. The only performances that stood out were Takeshi's and Emi's which both got standing ovations from the audience. After Takeshi walked off the stage he walked past Nash who was preparing to perform next.

"Not too bad...for number 2," said Nash as he walked by.

"Is that trash talk suppose to make you feel more confident to help you deal with your nerves?" responded Takeshi with just as much aggression as Nash.

"No, unlike you, I don't have nervous breakdowns before every single performance."

"You..." Takeshi turned around and was about to grab Nash but stopped as he met Nash's eyes.

"I have no need to fear because I have never lost a competition. Apart from Shusui there's no one that can beat me," said Nash with eyes burning with confidence and excitement. "But that won't last much longer either."

"It's my turn now," said Nash as he stepped onto the stage.

"Is that Nash?" asked Shusui as Nash walked on stage.

"Yeah," said Aika and then suddenly remembered that her friend was blind. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Nash wears these dress shoes that make a ridiculous amount of noise to signal to me he's about to play," answered Shusui. "Although I would still know it's him without the shoes."

"Maybe it's meant as a challenge. As if to say, 'Watch me!'"

He sat down and look toward the audience to find his rival. After spotting Shusui a grin appears on his face and he places his hands over the keys.

'_Try and copy this!_'

As the first few staccato chords are played, it felt as if something took the audience from their seats and dropped them back down. Nash's hands were jumping from the base to the top of the piano; but he wasn't only playing with his hands, he was playing with his whole body. The tune was a fast up-tune jazz that was enveloped with a feeling of insanity. The Crave by Jelly Roll Morton.

The song was telling a story, the story of a man who lost everything after gambling all of his fortunes away. In the mist of his insanity a demon came by this man and asked him, "What do you crave?"

"I crave...to win!" said the man and the demon laughed hysterically.

"You want to win even after you've lost everything?"

"I don't care."

A smile broke onto Nash's face and he turned his burning eyes towards Shusui. '_Do you understand? Even if you win 100 times I will never stop._'

"Do you hear this? He's playing a madman's song to himself," said Emi.

"I think he's playing for an audience of one," said Takeshi as he clenched his fist in frustration, "because he doesn't even see the rest of us as competition."

"Is it just me or did he get even better than before?" asked Aika.

"All I hear is the song of a sore loser," said Shusui.

Nash turned his attention back to his playing and the funky rhythm of a jazz piece rang through the auditorium. The image of his play didn't match the liveliness of his play, it was truly nonsensical.

"Such freedom in his play," said Hiroko to Robert who was sitting beside her.

"He has mastered this style far better than I," chuckled Gold Robert.

The song comes to end as the melody repeats one last time. "Give me your soul and I will give you what you crave," said the demon and without missing a beat the man agreed. They both laughed and the song ended with a loud low note.

The song was much shorter than all the other performances but once again has the audience on their feet cheering his name.

"What do you think? Do you still believe that your student has more talent than my son?" asked Nash with a proud smile.

"We'll see," said Hiroko as she smiled to herself.

* * *

"I wonder if Kousei and Kaori will be fine...," said Tsubaki in a worried tone. "These guys are all so freaking good."

"Don't worry about them, they'll pull through," said Watari , trying to reassure his friend and himself.

"You haven't even seen the worst part yet," said a voice from behind them. The two brunettes turned around to find Aurora sitting right behind them.

"Aurora?!"

"Hello!"

"What are you doing here?" asked Tsubaki.

"I came here to watch the contest of course, one performance in particular."

"Why are you sitting behind us?"

"Because it's my seat," said Aurora as she took out her ticket and showed it to Tsubaki. "Isn't this a lovely coincidence?"

"Absolutely!" said Watari which earned him a deadly stare from Tsubaki. "Not! Absolutely not!"

"What did you mean when you said we haven't even seen the worst part?" asked Tsubaki.

"I'm talking about Shusui and Aika of course! Once you hear them play you'll think Nash and I were just the pre-show."

"No way..."

* * *

"So, how confident are you feeling about winning this thing?" asked Kousei as he looked over to Kaori. They were sitting on a bench, eating egg salad sandwiches and caneles.

"Very confident of course!" said Kaori with faint enthusiasm.

"Even after hearing them play?"

"Especially after hearing them play! I'm not letting you go to Italy with Aurora THAT easily!" said Kaori as she began to get excited she stopped for a second. "Unless you WANT to go with her!"

"No, no, no! Of course not," said Kousei quickly.

"I bet you think she's prettier than me," said Kaori as she turned away pretending to cry.

"W-what? Of course not! I think...I think you're prettier than her," stuttered Kousei thinking that Kaori was actually crying.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Good," said Kaori as she turned back with a big smile.

"AH you were faking it!"

"Hehe, got you."

"Hatake Shusui and Ayzawa Aika, please get ready to go on stage!" yelled the staff member in front of the door leading to the stage.

Aika was leading Shusui down the hall and saw Kousei and Kaori. "Hey, you guys were amazing!" said Aika as she led Shusui towards them. At first he struggled and pulled against her when he heard their voices but then she threatened him that she would leave him here.

"You would really bully a blind man? How cruel," whispered Shusui.

"Who said I was nice?" said Aika as she whispered back.

"Thanks...," said Kousei.

"I hope you guys also do well," said Kaori out of courtesy.

"Yes I hope so too," said Aika laughing a little.

"Aika there's no need to act courteous with all thi- OMPH!" Shusui was interrupted as Aika elbowed his side. "You...brute..."

"We should get going now, see you guys later!"

'Contestant #1108 Hatake Shusui and Ayzawa Aika.'

"Let go," said Shusui as he separates from his lead, he refused to be lead to his piano because he didn't want people to look down upon him. He took out his walking stick and began to make his way toward the piano.

'_Even though he used to be so scared to perform..._' thought Aika as she slipped into a reminiscence of her childhood. '_I guess it's different now..._'

She shook the thought out of her head and followed his lead.

***Author's Note: Thank you for reading and I would greatly appreciate if you leave a comment or review about what you thought or what you liked XD! Once again I plead that you go to**

**www . inkitt [slash] fandom2**

**and vote Love's Melody if you enjoy reading this story! I'm currently in 5th place and every vote would mean a lot to me! Shout out to ****porcelainann**** for the suggestion!**

**Mermaid Monster****: PHEW you are still here! I'm was so happy when I saw that someone researched what the flowers meant and you were right on the dot! You've always been supporting this fanfic would heartily and I hope you could take a moment of your time to vote (I know shameless advertising). Either way thank you for commenting/reviewing again, I'll see you next chapter!**

**rex4487: Thank you for the continuous support! :')**

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**Vangran: Good predictions XD. Thank you for taking time to comment!**

**tinchov1: Thank you so much for the support! I also hope that this somehow gets miraculously animated.**

**The Flame of a Raindrop: LOL it's the connection we share as fanfiction writers! Yeah I know there are a lot of new names and old names (I sometime forget who's who as well :P). Thanks for the support and good luck with your writing!**

**archery713: I'm hurrying! Thank you for the support!**

**Shawn.17Frost: Thanks for the support! I'm always scared that I can't communicate the music properly XD.**

**Alteria117: Thanks for the support!**

**Ruud: I'm happy I can mend so many people's broken souls XD. Thank you for the support!**

**SkyeWhite: Wow you're making me blush with all these complements :*)! Shhh don't spoil parings for others ;) Thanks for the support!**

**a.k.a. Kusabi: Thank you for taking time out of your day to correct my English. My grammar kinda sucks so forgive me and don't roast me too hard XD.**

**zxxphyr: We all cried! Thanks for the support!**

**Arco-Alaude: Thanks for reassuring me, not everybody likes OCs and I was really nervous when I first came out with the idea. Thanks for the support and I'm happy you like the pieces I picked.**

**AquariustheKey****: Thanks a lot for the encouragement, I wouldn't really say I have talent (just a very vivid imagination and too much time daydreaming).**

**Hayashin: OF COURSE THERE'S MORE!**

**Ayieee: OF COURSE THERE'S MORE!**

**Avatar Kalea: Thank you for commenting so many times, I'm happy that it made you laugh XD. Thanks for the support!**

**HeartStirringWanShot****: Indeed.**


	13. Chapter 13 - Graceful Ghost Rag

***Author's Note: Yes very, very late and had thought of not continuing this story but the thought of leaving another fanfiction unfinished just bugs me so here we are. Thanks to all of you who voted for me in the fanfiction contest (from a long time ago)! Although I didn't place, all the support I received meant a lot more so once again thank you. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13 - Graceful Ghost Rag**

There was confidence as Shusui walked onto the stage. It was not the loud and ardent strides of Nash or the prideful walk of musicians like Kousei and Kaori. It was the march of a king in battle. His walking stick tapped the ground in front of him as he made his way toward the piano, radiating nothing but sureness in his victory and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the best.

Aika walked behind her partner, she wore a strapless purple dress with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Most people told her that she would look more graceful and elegant if she let her hair down but she hated the way her hair sometimes got in the way of her playing. There have been times when she considered cutting it short but something always stopped her.

'_Focus Aika. Focus,_' thought Aika, '_Now is not the time for idle thoughts.' _Despite Shusui's sureness, Aika herself still had the butterflies in her stomach before every performance. The fear of messing up wasn't because she would lose the competition or because the audience would laugh at her. The fear came from the thought of Shusui not wanting to play with her anymore.

The tapping of the walking stick stopped as it touched one of the legs of the piano bench. Aika stopped and looked over at Shusui as he folded his walking stick and placed it on the piano. She always had to make sure Shusui was going to sit down on the bench and not plain air. Yet he always managed to know exactly where the bench was. Shusui let his hand slide over all the keys as if he was examining all the keys to make sure that they are there and in their proper places. His hands easily found the right positions and he gave a small nod signaling to Aika that he was ready to begin. Aika drew in a deep breath and prepared for the performance they were about to give.

The song began with jazzy chords accompanied by a flow of violin that could only be described as graceful. As if woken up by the sounds, the curtains felt like they were beginning to sway slightly and right as the mood was set an old handkerchief seemed to have appeared. Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom.

"What discipline, I can't imagine how many hours of practice it would take to play an entire piece perfectly blind," said Kousei as he watched.

The tune was surprisingly effortless and light-hearted, the tune for a dead nameless gentleman at peace. The old handkerchief floated around danced through the current of the gentleman's lifetime. His birthplace, a quaint little town in the middle of autumn with a loving family. The handkerchief sways and the gentleman is attending university in the city of London. As he walked through the hallways, a young lady bumps into him and spills her coffee onto his clothe. The young lady quickly apologizes and takes out a handkerchief with a lavender picture stitched on it. The gentleman laughs it off and they start a conversation. The handkerchief sways, and the gentleman and the young lady are sitting on a bench in a park. The gentleman asks for the young lady to extend out her hand and to give him her handkerchief. The gentleman holds the young lady's hand with his left and covered their hands with the handkerchief. When he lifted the handkerchief, the young lady's ring finger was graced with a new small ring. The young lady looked up, tears welling up as the gentleman smiled. The handkerchief sways, and the gentleman is standing beside his bride with the handkerchief with the lavender stitching in the breast pocket of his suit.

The same carefree and peaceful melody continued, each time it repeated something changed, a different chord, an octave higher, or a slightly different pacing. Aika took a pause and allowed her partner to perform a short piano solo. A jazzy tune that kept to the melody, but the piano sang a new hint of sadness, a slight difference but noticeable by the audience. The couple continued on with their lives and Aika joined back in with her violin. The life of the couple remained happy and peaceful, however, the familiar melody of the piano and violin slowly became sadder and sadder. The whole audience were captivated, trying to figure out why the picture the performers painted didn't match with their playing anymore. The handkerchief sways, and the young lady was lying on a hospital bed and was looking out the window. The gentleman spoke with the doctor and the doctor shook his head and patted the gentleman on the shoulder. The gentleman walked back in and his wife turned to look at him. He took a seat beside her bed and held her hand with both of his and tried his best to smile a smile that said it was okay. The young lady took out her handkerchief with the lavender stitching, cupped the gentleman's face with her hand and wiped away his tears. The handkerchief sways, and the gentleman is working late into the night. As he's walking back from work he passes a flower store and he sees the lavender flower for sale. He visits his wife and places the flower at her bedside; they exchange smiles and he tells her about his day.

The melody is still the same but now it's bittersweet. The violin gets quieter, the melody slower and Aika stops using her violin bow and begins to pizzicato. The handkerchief sways, it's winter and the gentleman is still visiting his wife, however, this time his wife didn't wake up and the last petal of the lavender flowers fall. The violin stops but the handkerchief continues to sway. The now old gentleman sat in his rocking chair and looked out the window at his garden of lavender flower now in full bloom. He smiles and takes out the handkerchief whose lavender stitching have now almost been worn out. The piano is now also slowing down and finally as the piece ends the violin joins in for one last moment as the gentleman reminisces his life and closes his eyes.

There's a thunderous round of applause as many of the crowd members wipe away the tears that they even realize were there. There were no cheering for this performance, yet it was more impactful than all the others. Shusui and Aika do their bows and walk off the stage. As they walked through the corridor, they saw Nash and Aika stopped.

"Do you want to say something to him?" asked Aika.

"No, the fact that he's not coming up to us now means he understands," said Shusui calmly. Nash's fists were clenched and his body shook as he kept staring at the TV screen. "He has lost this one."

"It's absolutely amazing how they can create such an amazing story with only the slightest changes in the melody!" said Emi as she wiped away the tears in her eyes, not having felt like this since the performance of Kousei so many years ago.

"Tch, no wonder Nash is so focused on beating those two," said a frustrated Takeshi.

"There's a surprisingly amount of piano solo compared to other accompaniment songs especially when the violinist was so skilled," said Kousei as he turned to Kaori, "don't you think s- Kaori?!" Kaori was bawling, perhaps because she felt a strange attachment to the story. Kousei smiled and wrapped his hand around her shoulder and gave her a hug.

"See what did I tell you?" said Aurora with a smile, without a hint of being bothered that she has just been beaten. "Their performance never gets old."

The rest of the performances went by and finally day one of the competition ended. "We will now take a short break before releasing the result of which contestants have made the second round," said the announcer.

"So how do you guys feel about your standings?" asked Hiroko when the group gathered up again.

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure, they were phenomenal to say the least," said Emi.

"Really? I felt like we got smashed." Everyone turned towards the voice and was surprised to see who it came from.

"Takeshi?!"

"What? I'm just saying the truth, Kousei and Kaori, me, you, we all put up good performances no doubt but skill and mechanics wise Nash was almost perfect and showmanship wise the girl who played music without even moving has us beat too," said Takeshi without batting an eye, "Let's not even talk about that blind guy."

The group sighed in agreement and became downcast. "However…it doesn't mean we can't beat them in the second round, right?" Once again everyone was surprised by who the comment was from.

"Kousei…"

"This competition has a week in-between the first and second round. Granted it's not a lot of time but we still have a shot if we've made it, so let's focus on that for now."

"Those are some pretty big words," said Aurora as she snuck up behind Kousei and hugged him from behind. "You guys are going to need some pretty big power-ups if you are going to beat us in a week."

"Or…you could just give up and we would go back to Italy together."

"Get away from him!" yelled Kaori as she yanked Aurora off of Kousei and proceeded to growl like a Doberman at her.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," said Aurora as she began to walk away. "But don't forget our little bet."

"I haven't!"

The results came out shortly after…

_The following contestants have made it to the second round:_

_1\. Aika and Shusui, Graceful Ghost Rag (100 points)_

_2\. Nash, The Crave (95 points)_

_3\. Aurora, Shadows (94 points)_

_4\. Kaori and Kousei, Csárdás (93 points)_

…

_8/9. Takeshi, Sleeping Beauty (90 points)_

_8/9. Emi, Distant Everyday Memory (90 points)_

**Author's Note: I don't know how many of you guys are still here and I'm not sure if my writing even has the same tone but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was absolutely amazing to write and I did it all in one sitting XD. If you guys enjoyed this please leave a comment and if you guys didn't then leave a comment why not, I'm always open to constructive criticism. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!**

**No response to comment this time since I have a final tomorrow morning and it would probably take me all night answering to the year worth's comments XD. However I want to thank all of you who did leave a review and I hope you guys continue to support this series…even if it hasn't been updated for year :P**


	14. Chapter 14 - Practice Makes Perfect

**Chapter 14 – Practice Makes Perfect**

As the group was leaving an idea popped into Takeshi's head and she dragged Emi off to side. "What are you doing?" asked Emi, she was clearly just as annoyed and disappointed as he was by the results which in that moment worked in his favor.

"I have an idea on how we can compete with Kousei and them," whispered Takeshi, "but I need your help."

"Well, hurry up and spill it then."

Takeshi looked at her and couldn't hold back the smirk anymore. "We're going to do a duet!"

* * *

The rest of the group went their separate ways, with Kousei and Kaori going back to his house to get started on practicing for the second round as soon as possible. However, their moods were not in the right place and it translated in their playing. "Kousei!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Stop playing like you are depressed!"

"Am I?"

"Yes! Cheer up, even though we placed fourth, we still gave a great performance. One that we should be proud of as musicians. Plus you're the one that said we shouldn't give up yet."

"You're right…It's just that my mind has been on something else."

"What are you thinking abou-" She gasped. "You aren't thinking about your trip to Italy with Aurora are you?"

"You still don't trust me?!" Kousei sighed. "No it's not that. I'm just trying to figure out what differentiates us and Shusui. I find it hard to believe that he simply puts in more effort than us, and I refuse to accept that he's better just because he's some kind of prodigy."

"Hmm," Kaori thought about it for a second. "Why don't you just ask him?"

"Yeah I should just as- WAIT WHAT?!"

"Just ask him, 'What's the difference between me and you?' Simple."

"Do you think he'll give away his secrets that easily?"

"He was pretty talkative before the competition," said Kaori as she shrugged. "Since it's bothering you so much we should get it sorted out."

"We?"

"Hey, it wasn't just Shusui, Aika was pretty boss on the violin too."

"How are we going to find them?"

"Ah who cares?" said Kaori as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door. "We'll figure it out somehow."

* * *

"Excuse me?" asked the event director.

"We want to perform a duet for the second ro-" said Takeshi before he got interrupted.

"Wait you idiot! I haven't even agreed to this yet!"

"What? I thought you said you wanted to do this."

"I said I was going to listen to your idea not follow through with it."

"Oh c'mon, this idea is genius. We'll be combining our strengths, it'll be like adding my points with yours."

"That's not how a duet works!" said Emi as she pinched the bridge of her nose. His naivety was giving her an even bigger headache than before.

"What's happening?" asked Akira (Takeshi's teacher) as he and Yuriko (Emi's teacher) came over due to the commotion.

"We're doing a duet for the second round," explained Takeshi, leaving both the teachers speechless.

"Stop including me as if I've already agreed to it!"

"Is that even possible? Also WHY?!" asked Akira. "You gave a brilliant performance today, with some more practice I'm sure you'll perform even better for round two. There's no need to do something this drastic."

"Yes there is!" yelled Takeshi which silenced everybody else, he turned over to Emi. "Are you satisfied with 8th?"

"Well…no bu-"

"Well me neither! I want the same spot as you, not just above Kousei and Kaori but above everyone else. To be the best, to be number one! But I can't do it alone, not yet. Kousei, Nash, Shusui, they've all found something within themselves that have propelled them as musicians. I'm not that smart and I don't think I can find that something in just a week so please. Help me." He looked at her straight in eye and she knew that he meant every word he said.

She sighed. "How can I say no to that?"

"You're going along with this Emi?" asked Yuriko completely stunned by her student's decision. "Although both of you are great solo players, it does not mean you two will make great duet players!"

"Ochiai-sensei is right," said Akira. "Please think it over Takeshi."

"I've already thought it over, I rather have a shot at first then be guaranteed something like 5th or 6th." He turned back to the event director. "So is it possible?"

"Uh, this is quiet unusual. We've never had a request like this before…" The man thought about it for a bit then finally shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to say-"

"Yes," said an old man as he walked up to the group.

"But Sakimura-san, that would be most abnormal. In the history of music concerts, we've never seen two contestants team up after the first round!" explained the event director.

"Haruto," said Sakimura as he addressed the event director's concerns, "I do believe I'm the one who owns this hall and I'm the one who funds this competition."

"Yes, sir."

Sakimura then turned his attention to Takeshi and Emi. "It would be most interesting to see how two of our best will perform together. I look forward to it." After resolving the issue, both the owner and event director stepped away leaving the group in awe.

"That just happened," said Emi.

"Alright, it's all good. Now, let's go home and practice!"

"I guess we're doing this…" said Yuriko as she turned to Akira.

"I guess we are…"

* * *

"So how did you know this is where they lived?" asked Kousei as he and Kaori stood outside a big mansion. Kaori simply avoided his eye contact as she began to whistle innocently. "Kaori…"

"I…may or may not have looked at the sign up list that the event director left lying around."

"Isn't that stuff personal information…"

"Stop being so serious," Kaori said as she pushed him up to the front door.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" asked Kousei, his shy personality resurfacing.

"Hmm, maybe," said Kaori as she rang the doorbell.

"W-wait I'm not read-" But before Kousei could object, the door swung open with Aika standing in the doorway.

"H-hi," said Kousei meekly.

"Umm…can I help you?"

"Who is it Aika?" asked Shusui from inside.

"Uh…it's…Kousei and Kaori…"

"Hey, we're just here to talk. Mind if we come inside?" said Kaori cheerfully.

"We don't really have to…" said Kousei quietly but at this point there was no backing out now that Kaori had the reins.

Aika thought about for a moment. "Sure why not."

The two walked inside the fancy house, it was mainly made out of oak wood and had that ancient, prestige feel to it. "Sorry about the lighting," said Aika as she went and turned on a couple of lights. "It's…well…"

"Yeah," said Kousei, it didn't take a genius to figure out that a blind person didn't need lights on around the house.

"I'll go get him," said Aika.

"It's okay," said Kaori as she have her partner a nudge. "He'll go, after all he's the one that wanted to ask Shusui something."

"You're leaving me?!" said Kousei as he whispered in her ear.

"You'll be fine, I believe in you," said Kaori as she gave a quick peck on his cheek.

'_Unfair,_' thought Kousei, he could never truly resist her if she was like that.

"You guys are quite cute," commented Aika, once Kousei had left the room.

"Thanks," said Kaori, blushing slightly. "But the reason I came here today was to talk to you."

"Hmm?"

"How are you so good?" asked Kaori bluntly. "Both you and Aurora are on such a high level, kinda frustrating to be honest."

Aika laughed a little. "I heard Aurora issued a challenge to you guys."

"Yeah! She said she would take Kousei away if she beat us in this competition!"

"She's always been like that, I wouldn't give it too much thought if I were you."

"But I do!" insisted Kaori. "I don't want to think…I don't want to think Kousei would be better off with another violinist."

Aika got silent for a moment, before finally saying, "I don't think that's the right mindset." She then smiled sadly. "I'm actually quite envious of you and Kousei…"

* * *

When Kousei walked into the piano room, his rival was sitting there calmly as he glided his hand across the piano, simply feeling each individual keys. "I would ask you why you're here, but I would be lying if I said I didn't already know why. You seek to know how to evolve as a pianist, am I right?"

"Yes."

"I have already told you the answer the first time we met. Pianist like us evolve through loss. The pain of losing someone dear to us, the bitterness of defeat…and the horrors of an accident."

"Is that really it? Then are we as musicians only meant to be put through torture again and again?!"

"Have you listened to your performance back then?" asked Shusui.

"Back when?"

"Back when you were about to lose her, your partner."

"No," said Kousei dryly as he began to recall the painful memories.

"Then let's start there," said Shusui as he pressed play on the recorder beside him.

Kousei could hear it. A desperation, a fullness, and a maturity in his play that has never been there before. Back then when he was playing, he wasn't thinking about it but now that he's rehearing it for the first time, it was extraordinary and transcendent.

"Do you understand now?" asked Shusui. "That pianist was one that could move hearts and make his mark onto people's lives. The play you do now is but a temporary gag, a child's performance compared to the one before."

"What are you getting it?"

"I'm not getting at anything. The truth of the matter is,loss is what evolves us. Yet none of us wishes for painful losses. To want to evolve withoutloss is naïve and childish. Just look at all of the great composers back then. Which of them lived comfortably and without trial?"

* * *

"He wasn't always like this," said Aika. "Truth be told he was a lot like Kousei back then. A bit shy, a bit self-conscious, but so very talented. Back when he still could see…"

"What happened…?"

"An accident. A fire. He lost both his parents and on top of that he lost his sight as well. Our families were close friends so we took him in. It was a big loss to him and for weeks he would refuse to do anything. One day, in an attempt to make him feel in anyway better. I convinced him to try playing the piano. So he did. And after that, it was all he did. He got lost in the music, maybe he was trying to get some kind of answers from it. In the end, the only way he could rationalize it was to think that it was the way for him to evolve as a pianist."

"Was it?"

"I don't know, but who was I to try and tell him otherwise? He got better, or at least, he got over the trauma. But now, all he can do is get drawn deeper and deeper into the music, and away from everything else. If that is the price to be the best…" said Aika as she grabbed Kaori's hands, "it is not worth it."

"What about you?"

"I'm all he has left and he was never one to settle for stagnation. So please…show us another way."

"If I have to trade Kaori to be a better pianist, then I won't do it!" said Kousei. "I will find another way, a better way."

"Then our talk is over and the next time we speak will be through the words of our songs."

Kousei walked out of the piano room and back into the living room where Kaori was. He gave her a sight nod signaling that his talk was done. "Thank you for having us," said Kaori as she got up. "We'll pay you guys back by beating you in the competition."

"What an interesting duo," said Aika to herself as she watched the couple leave.

* * *

"ARGH, TAKESHI PLAY IT RIGHT!" yelled Emi as she stopped.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! IT'S YOU THAT'S NOT COMING IN AT THE RIGHT TIME!" retorted Takeshi.

"This song is gentle, and soft! You can't play it so fast!"

"What? This song should clearly be played fast and confidently!"

"Guys!" yelled Akira. "How are we going to make any progress if we can't even play such a simple duet song?"

"I knew it, their styles differ way too much. It'll be hard for them to synch up," said Yuriko.

"Let's battle it out Emi! If you win, we'll play it your way and if I win we'll play it my way!"

"Deal!"

"Wait, wait, wait, that's not what we're here for…" But before the teachers could intervene, the battle was already underway. And suddenly, an idea popped into both of their heads.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Akira?"

"I think so."

* * *

***Author's Note: For those who are still here, welcome back and thanks for sticking around XD I haven't been working on this fanfic a lot since I've been so obsessed with my new project "Sword Art Online: Re" but it felt unfair to you guys who've been so loyal and kind. I'll try my best to wrap this fanfic up this summer, to give you guys the ending you deserve!**

**Response to Reviews**

**Shawn: Maybe…**

**Kaolei: Wow, half a year?! I feel bad for making you wait another half year for this one then…**

**wiroxd: Ayy, good to see a fellow Naruto fan here!**

**Serena Tasaine: There wasn't a specific one I had in mind, sorry :P**

**Nuclear2077: Thank you for your suggestions, I've picked up Grammarly and it has really helped a lot in my writing!**

**Deathblade451: Okay.**

**mohd98: Thanks for the encouragement, sorry for the long wait!**

**Lol: Yes XD**

**MarvelSpider-Man: Oh RIP, I guess they are sort of the villain of the story but I do hope you begin to see that they have the same competitive drive as the others, maybe a little too much XD**

**Fanboy200: Thanks for the support, and yeah this was originally meant for closure but ideas came up and here we are!**

**sotohunter11: Thank you for your kind words good sir (or mam)!**

**Misaki Ayuzawa: Why is Kaichou here :O**

**gagelange10: Thank you for the review! Writing fanfics was originally meant to make my writing better but it has now become so much more than that. I'm happy you notice the increase in quality because I honestly but in way more effort than I did before writing them.**

**Master Guardian: Happy very, very belated birthday! I'm happy this fanfic was able to make you feel better!**

**Heroism: Thanks for the constructive criticism!**

**Daniel A. Lopez: Sorry for the wait XD**

**GirbleMelone: Ayyy thank you for the review and encouragement!**

**bluefire888: Thanks for the review and hope you had a good time rewatching it!**

**Umut: Thank you, and here it is!**

**Diverse Player79: Thanks for the review!**

**Sinthetic: Thanks for the review, and for the dose of motivation!**

**Guests: Shoutout to all you guys too! Thanks for the review and encouragements!**


	15. Chapter 15 - Giorno d'Estate in Italia

**Chapter 15 – Giorno d'Estate in Italia**

One week passed in the blink of an eye. Were they able to find the answers they were looking for? Were they able to set aside their differences and combine their play? Would their efforts even matter in the face of overwhelming talent? Only the musicians can answer those questions on stage.

The group made their way separately back to Towa Hall this time. Now that the stakes were higher, they were competitors before they were friends. "How you feeling, princess?" asked Takeshi.

Emi breathed in a deep breath of air and released slowly. "Wonderful."

"Good, then let's win this!"

"Ready?" asked Kaori as she gave a slight shoulder bump to Kousei.

"Yeah," responded Kousei firmly.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Aurora, Nash, Shusui and Aika standing at the entrance. "This time, Shusui. Count on it!" said Nash as he walked away.

"Whatever you say, Nash," said Shusui coldly.

"Well, let us have a good match as always Aika!" said Aurora as she gave her friend a hug and then turned at the new guests. "Ah, ready for your side of the promise?"

"Yeah, as soon as we beat you!" said Kaori as she held onto her partner defensively.

Aurora laughed. "You guys are still going on about that?"

"I look forward to your answer, Kousei," said Shusui. "But make no mistake, we'll be going at you full force today." Kousei simply nodded in response and the group went their separate ways.

Only the top ten performers of day one made it into the second round, while most of the hype was around the top four finishers of round one, the others were no pushovers either. Each of them giving their own unique and spectacular performance and each earning a big round of applause. Until finally there were five performances left.

'_Mommy, mommy look! I can finally do it too!' exclaimed a little girl as she danced around with her little violin in her arms._

'_That's wonderful, sweetheart! Playing solo is great but one day mommy hopes to see you play with someone you care deeply for as well.'_

'_Just like you and daddy?'_

'_Mhmm!'_

'_Alright I got it,' said the little girl as she raised her violin bow, 'I'll give you the greatest performance ever alongside a great pianist, just like you and daddy!'_

'_Then it's a promise! My dear…'_

'Contestant #1103, Aurora Blandelli'

"Looks like I'm the first one to go again," said Aurora to herself before walking onto the stage. Her greeting this time much warmer than her last. Having proven herself in the last round, many have come just to hear her magical performance again. Among the crowd, she could spot the 4 year old girl that watched her last time and gave her a big smile. "Sorry dear Kaori, I can't disappoint my fans, can I?"

She started off with a cheerful beat at a moderate pace, not slow enough to be considered a walk and not fast enough to be considered a run, but a peaceful roll on a bicycle through a summer day morning. '_Giorno d'Estate in Italia - A Summer Day in Italy by yours truly._'

She wasted no time showing off her magic as she stopped her play yet preserved the melody she started off with and proceeded to layer another tune on top of it. The second layer was slow, then broke out into a small flurry of fast notes, before coming back down again. Unpredictable and free, an image of a spirited girl riding her bicycle in a small quaint town. Aurora didn't stay on that tune for long, a brief introduction of the character for now. She then held her violin bow with her mouth and began tapping on the strings on her violin, creating a up-tempo beat to go along with the steady bicycle theme. Once the beat was set, she went back to the tune of the spirited girl that never seemed to stay still. As soon as the audience got comfortable with one melody, the tune would change pace and key.

"Three melodies yet only one violinist…"

'_We're not done yet!_'

A fourth melody then began to emerge, intertwining itself with the rest of the song with ease. It was a complicated mix of the different chords yet it seemed so simple to understand. Each of the different layers supported each other and simply enhanced the main tune of the spirited girl. Adding to the image, filling it with multicolored foliage, and finishing it off with a fresh and soft summer breeze. It was a song that called out to its listeners, asking them to come along for the ride with the spirited girl. A song that was like a painting, with so many parts that one could focus on and draw meaning from.

The climax was absolutely brilliant as the tempo picked up and the audience could feel the scenery whirl by as the bicycle sped up. Finally, the tempo slowed back down as it signaled the end of the spirited girl's journey, before a light twirl of notes finished off the song leaving the audience with only an image of a bicycle and the spirited girl's destination a fantastical mystery.

***Author's Note: Short but I'm planning to upload each performance one at a time, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you guys are wondering what song the performance was based off of, just search "AMAZING street musician! (Epic Violinist Music Video) HD" on YT.**

**CelestialSky: Thanks for the review, hope you got all the characters all sorted out now XD**

**Shits and Chips: I was scared too o.O**

**Danbred: Thanks for the review, hope you like the next few closing chapters!**

**LeeZee: Absolutely! Go ahead! It's actually quite an honor to hear someone is turning my fanfic into an actual manga XD I'm happy you like the storyline and no I'm not from Japan, I think I've used -san once since I felt the need to emphasis Sakamura's prestige :P**


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